Grow Up!
by FishTVCo
Summary: AU where Bulma and Vegeta are neighbors as children. They grow up as friends, but after Vegeta's parents die and he is adopted by Frieza, and nothing is the same. With distance and a lot of things still unspoken, they start senior years of high school as enemies. V/B G/C etc.
1. Meeting the New Neighbors

It's a new V/B story!

Not Mine, so please support the official release by Akira Toriyama. The world needs more Dragonball Z

-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter One: Meeting the New Neighbors

"Now Vegeta, say hello to Bulma" a smooth voice whispered next to the stern looking boy's shoulder. Vegeta glared at the girl. She was hiding behind her mother's leg, peeping at him with an inquisitive eye.

The boy stood with his shoulders thrown back and arms crossed over his chest, mirroring the tall man behind him. He wasn't particularly happy about having to move to this new house and going to a new school, but this by far was the most annoying part. Vegeta just didn't like girls.

"What's wrong with your hair?" Vegeta said. In an instant he felt his father lightly smack the back of his head. "Hey! What was that for?" Vegeta shouted turned to the taller and older version of him standing behind him with hands covering the offended part of his head.

"Mommy says my hair is pretty. She said it looks like the ocean," a voice said boldly, "Your hair is weird. How does it stand up like that?" While his back was turned, the girl had moved to stand right in front of him. She was looking up and reaching to examine his black gravity defying hair.

"Ooooh! Aren't they so adorable?" Bunny squealed, "Vegeta, Bulma will be in your class next week. Would you be a dear and watch out for her? She hasn't been in a public school before and she is a little younger than the other kids. She is a little genius just like her daddy," she said pinching Bulma's cheek, to the owner's dismay. Bunny took hold of Vegeta Senior's and his wife's arm and guided them into the house. "Why don't we all go inside and have some tea while they get to know each other?"

Both children watched the parents retreat into the garden as Bunny prattled on. Vegeta had no impulse to follow the loud woman into the house for fear his cheeks would also be severely pinched. He looked around the yard wondering if there was something interesting to do while his parents were gone. When he was about to bound into the wooden area behind the house, he noticed the girl was still standing in front of him. She was squinting at him like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.

"What?" he said at her. She kinda freaked him out with her hard piercing stare.

Her face switched from puzzled to pure excitement in a blink as she said, "Want to see something?"

Before he could answer, she grabbed his hand and dragged him away behind the domed house. She pulled him along until abruptly letting go of his hand to kneel behind the porch railing. As soon as their hands were not locked Vegeta stopped running and closed his arms across his chest to stare at the strange girl. She scrabbled back to him carrying a tiny black cat.

"Look!" she said, her face glowing with excitement at the ordinary looking animal.

"Look at what? It's just a cat," Vegeta raised an eyebrow in question.

"He looks just like you, see the tuft of hair and pointy eyes? He's your cat twin!"

Vegeta gave the tiny cat a long glare. Sure, it did have a tuft of black mane poking up between its ears, but that was it. As Vegeta stared down into the cat's face, the animal's feline eyes seemed to narrow in disapproval back at him. The dislike was apparently mutual.

"I don't look anything like a stupid kitten," he declared as he looked away.

"You don't think so? Tama is a little sweetie, but he can give you a scary look when he wants to." She cooed and stroked the cat until it purred.

How did I end up stuck with this dumb girl? As he looked around the yard, he noticed a critter sitting at the edge of a puddle, the product of a dripping faucet. _Perfect_, he thought. Vegeta was often in trouble for terrorizing the other girls in his class. He didn't resort to pulling hair or name calling like the other boys, but he had found his own ways to send them off streaming. While she was distracted, he tiptoed over to grab the wet amphibian.

"Well you look like this toad!" he said, pushing the frog so close to Bulma's face she was nearly kissing it.

"That isn't a toad, it's a frog! See, toads have short legs while frogs have the longer ones for jumping. Plus, frogs have eyes that bug out more, like this" she gestured with her cups hands on the sides of her face. Tama had leapt to safety already and looked at the strange pair from the porch.

Vegeta just looked at her flabbergasted. _She wasn't screaming or anything? She likes toa—I mean, frogs?_ To shock him more, she reached out her hands and took the squirming creature from him to examine it closer. "And frogs have upper teeth too... I wonder how it got all the way over here. That is a hefty hopping distance from the lake. Let's return him," she was beaming up at his face again. Pressing the frog belly to her body, she wrapped her now muddy hand around his and pulled them both towards the back of the complex.

She lead him down a small foot-beaten path and over a broken portion of the fence and towards a free growing pond. The sound of crickets and frogs build with each step closer to the wet grass. At the edge of the water, Bulma kneels down and lets the frog leap from her hands and into the water, before turning around and returning to stand next to him.

"I come here a lot to explore. But you have to watch out for the snakes.

"Snakes?" Vegeta's voiced jumped a little at the thought, but he managed to calm himself down before saying, "Are there really snakes out here?"

"Yeah, garter snakes," she looked up at his face with amusement, "they don't make noises like a rattle snake does, so you won't know if they crawl up your back!" she yelled as she dragged a finger up the boy's spine and watched him jump three feet with a yelp. She couldn't contain her laughter as she bent over and held her stomach seeing the red-faced haughty boy. "That's for trying to scare me with the frog" she said between giggles.

Vegeta wanted to be mad and storm off at the girl, but the sound of her tinkling laughter held him in place. He crossed him arms and faced away from her instead.

"Hey 'Geta, the garter snake won't hurt you. They aren't poisonous and only eat earthworms and maybe even our froggie friend. You're not really mad are you?" She edged closer to him and tried to peek around his arms to see his face, but he only scoffed and turned farther away.

She plopped down on the grass next to his feet and looked out at the pond. The afternoon was escaping them as the sky began to brighten to orange. "Hey, 'Geta…. You don't think I really look like a toad, do you?"

Vegeta turned and looked down at her, watching as she plucked and pulled blades of grass near where she sat. Her blue hair was coming loose from the pigtails and strands had slipped into her eyes. It really did look like the ocean, even with bits of leaves and twigs, it still shined and sparkled. He sat down in the grass next to the girl and plucked his own grass. "Nah, I guess not. Your hair is too weird to be like a toad."

Bulma's head turned towards him as she smiled and her turquoise eyes beamed up at him again. Sitting so close together and with her looking at him that way made him nervous and he could feel all the blood warming his face a deep red.

All of a sudden, she jumped up, "Uh Oh! We better get back!" As soon as she said this, Vegeta heard his mother calling him from a long distance off.

"Race ya!" He said after he got to his feet. In a moment he was leaping over the broken fence and running full speed over the yard. He looked back to her running fast, but not nearly fast enough to catch up to him. He slowed so it would be a close second as they landed both breathing heavily in front of the group of waiting parents.

"My, look at you two covered in mud! Bulma, dear, you've ruined your dress," Bunny said as she brought a spit moistened handkerchief to the girl's cheek. Vegeta grinned as she squirmed away from the cloth like it was the slimy frog trying to kiss her.

"Come on Vegeta, you need a bath as well" he heard the rasp of his father's voice say as he directed him back towards their neighboring house.

Before they had gotten too far away, Vegeta heard Bulma call out to him, "Bye 'Geta!"

Vegeta looked back at the girl from between his parents legs, and waved his own goodbye.

"What a sweet girl. I hope you were nice and not mean like you were to the girls at your old school, Vegeta. It will be nice to have a friend before you go to a new school next week, right?"

"Yeah. And, Bulma isn't so bad… for a girl," Vegeta says with a fond smile.

-o-o-

A/N: How was it? Don't worry, they don't stay this sickeningly cute for long. In fact, the story turns darker, much darker. No Spoilers! So keep reading!

Sneak Peak of Next Chapter: It is several years later and young Vegeta and Bulma are still close friends. Life is sweet, however, it cannot last forever. After Vegeta's parents die in a car accident, Frieza takes over not just the family business but also Vegeta's home. See how it all unfolds, next!


	2. The Fort or Tree House

Not Mine, so please support the official release by Akira Toriyama. The world needs more Dragonball Z

**Chapter 2: The Fort/Tree House**

"Mom, I'm home!" Bulma shouted as he closed the door to Capsule Corp.

"Oh, Bulma dear! How was your first day at school?" Bunny cooed and offered her a tray of cookies.

"It was ok. First, I met some of 'Geta's friends named Goku and Killian. Goku has an older brother named Raditz, but he's in another grade. And Killian is nice, but really short. I wonder if it is in his genetic make-up to be so short or if he will eventually grow like I did that one summer when I grow like five inches. And there was this one boy named Yamcha, but we all call him Cat Scratch, 'cause he's got these scratches on his face, but he was mean to me and made fun of my hair and pulled it really hard. But 'Geta punched him in the stomach and made him puke all over the ground and it was super gross and then 'Geta got is a whole bunch of trouble with the teacher and the teacher said he's going to have a talk with his father. And 'Geta is really scared about when his dad gets home from work," Bulma managed to say all in the span of a minute all while eating two cookies and spewing crumbles all over the kitchen table as her mother nodded with a tickled smile.

"So many boys" Bunny giggled, "You are going to be a heartbreaker when you grow up aren't you, Honey."

"Anyway Mom, Vegeta and I are going to go play. Bye" Bulma ran out the door with a wave, and carrying an extra cookie with her. Vegeta, who was waiting in the backyard, was busy having another staring contest with Tama the cat. "Hey, 'Geta. I brought you a cookie."

One of their favorite pastimes in the afternoon was riding their bikes around the neighborhood. "Look, no feet!" said Vegeta.

"Yeah, you're a real Evil Kenevil" Bulma said with roll of her eyes. "How about this? No hands!" Bulma said with glee right before a rock sent her quickly tumbling to the ground.

"Bulma!" Vegeta skid to a stop and jumps down to her rescue. Bulma rolls over onto her butt, hands gripping around the fresh red lines on her knee cap.

"Ow, ow, oowww!" tears threatening and stinging her eyes.

"Oh that's nothing. Don't be such a baby," Vegeta scoffed.

Eyes still on the edge of tears, Bulma looked up at him like a puppy and said, "Can you kiss it better?"

"Do what?"

"Kiss it better. My mom does it to make it feel better,"

"I don't know," Vegeta said crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow higher, "Sounds gross."

"Please" Bulma said, drawing out the 'Eeess' as she looked at his with wet lashes.

"No way. Does that even work? I think you're making it up," Vegeta scoffed again. He was always a bit skeptical about superstitions. His father told him that superstition was for fools and not to believe a word of it.

"I swear it works! See," With a surprisingly sharp nail she made a white, then red scratch on his arm that stun but didn't bleed, and then just as quickly pressed her lips to the scratch before the boy could protest. And to his shock, the stinging scratch did feel better, not only better, Vegeta could feel a warm tingle flowing up her arm. "All better," she said with a grin.

"It does kinda feel better," Vegeta said with a sense of wonder at this new magic.

"Now will you do it?" she said, her grin gone and the puppy eyes returned in a blink.

Still startled by the seemingly magical kiss she had 'healed' him with, but he neglected to remember that she was the cause of his pain at first. Vegeta bowed his lips to her knee, wondering if he could produce the same magic as she did. As soon as he pressing his lips to her dusty red kneecap he did feel the tingle again as it made his heart skip and his cheek blazed. "All better," he whispered the magic words to her knee.

"Thanks," Bulma jumped up and pulled her bike upright; all thoughts of her skinned knee long forgotten.

"Sure," he returned to his bike too and followed her along the road.

Most afternoons were spent riding bikes, or catching bugs and frogs, or climbing the big tree by the lake. It never seemed to bother Vegeta when the other boys at school would try to make fun of the two friends for always hanging around each other. They often claimed she would give him cooties and that they were secretly boyfriend and girlfriend and sat in trees k.i.s.s.i.n.g. But once they saw that neither Vegeta nor Bulma really cared about cooties or tree kissing, they soon gave up their taunting. And Vegeta and Bulma did often climb trees, not to k.i.s.s., but mostly to read or swing in the shade like monkeys. Goku and Krillian would often come too.

For the next three years they were inseparable and the best of friends. Until the summer Vegeta turned 10 years old when both his parents died in a car accident.

Bulma didn't like the black dress she had to wear, nor did she understand why she had to wear it over to Vegeta's house that day. Her mother wouldn't let her go over to play with him the day before, which was very odd. Bunny tried to explain that Vegeta's parents had been in a horrible car accident, but was soon crying and hugging the confused girl tightly. As they walked to Vegeta's house next door, Bulma counted all the cars squeezed into their front drive and yard. _Geez, 34 cars. And not just cars, TV vans with reporters talking to cameramen, all standing around the front yard. What is going on? _

When Bulma and her parents got to the front door, they were greeted by a bald man with a high pitched voice like a squeaking wheel. "Oh, Dr. Briefs. Mrs. Briefs. I'm sorry to meet you finally under these terrible circumstances. And this must be little Bulma. I hear you are quite the little genius," as the man patted her head she could feel the chill of his fingers even through her hair. Bulma was usually very friendly, even to strangers, but this man made her pull back behind her mother's leg. She didn't like him at all.

As the cold man chatted more to her parents, she caught a glimpse of Vegeta in the back of the room sitting by a window. She dashed out, around, and between plate-clad adults to get over to where Vegeta was sitting in a black suit. Vegeta was often a stickler on his appearance and always looked neat, but now his tie was twisted and his suit jacket bunched up like it was too big for the sullen boy. He was stroking Tama absentmindedly as he stared out the window. Over the years, he and the cat had ended their staring contests and called a truce. Since then Tama could often be found following behind Vegeta hoping for a scratch behind his tuft of spiky hair.

"Hey 'Geta," Bulma eased down in the seat next to the boy. She looked at him and sensed the turmoil seeping off of him.

"Hi," he simply said without turning away from the window. His voice was quiet, a whisper of his usual self.

Bulma bit her bottom lip, cocked her head to the left and narrowed her eyes at Vegeta; she always made this face when trying to figure out a hard problem or equation. Her eyes searching his face for the answer that was currently hidden. When she didn't see it, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on," Vegeta complied without a word, also very unlike him. While Bulma did have a habit of pulling Vegeta around and leading him some place, he always stubbornly questioned or complained the whole time. Seeing her puff up with anger over his comments was one of his favorite games to play. But now, he followed her like Tama would follow him.

Only one man saw the two disappear out the back door and away from the house.

-o-o-o-o-

The lake had always been their special place to meet. They had built a platform in the main branches of the large tree along the water's edge. There were plans to expand the platform that summer, but neither could agree on the specifics of whether it would be a fort or a tree house. Vegeta opposed Bulma's wishes for windows with pink drapes and other fineries, and Bulma disliked that Vegeta insisted that girls were not allowed in the "fort"; of course Bulma was exempt from this rule because none of the boys considered her to be a girl. The battles were great and a treaty could never be agreed on, so the tree house/fort remained simply a war battered platform.

The pair climbed up and sat peacefully on the old platform. Vegeta faced out the lake and seemed to stare off at an unknown and distant object. Bulma could only peer at his face with concern and confusion.

"Vegeta, what is going on? Who was that guy and why was he talking to everyone like he owes the place?"

"Because he does now," Vegeta said bitterly, "That is Frieza. When my parents died the board elected him the new CEO and he gets everything. He even got the house, since it was company property." Vegeta's family, like Bulma's owned a very large and prosperous company in military technology. Even at such a young age they both understood the demands and expectations of growing up with the family business in their future. While her parents had always insisted that Bulma could be anything she wanted, she always knew she wanted to be just like her dad and be an inventor. Vegeta worshiped and emulated his father, adopting his mannerisms and of course his career choice. His father was his hero, and the boy seemed lost with his ideal gone, as all his dreams got pulled out from under him.

"But where will you live?"

"He said that we are going to both live there now and that he is some distant relative or something. But he said he wanted to fully adopt me. Can you believe that?"

"Adopt you? He is probably to get the board on his side so he can be in charge," Bulma astutely noted. Bulma had been to several board meetings and functions with the company and all of the board members and adults tried to suck-up to her and get on her good side as the future CEO of the company. She instantly saw through their pandering and wasn't afraid to tell them so to their face. A fiery boss already.

Bulma could tell that Vegeta already knew about Frieza's less than charitable motives, but being impressed by her intelligence wasn't making him feel any better. She scooted closer beside him and leaned her head against his shoulder. His body seemed to relax a bit at her touch and they sat quietly for a while and listened to the crickets and frogs.

"I'm sorry about your parents, Vegeta," Bulma said quietly. Her voice choked a little at the thought that she would never see them again. They weren't often around, both being workaholics, but were always very kind to her and she knew Vegeta adored them more than he would ever say aloud.

"Thanks," Vegeta said as he leaned his head on top of hers, "Me too."

"Vegeta?"

"Hmm?"

"You can cry if you want to" Bulma whispered, "I won't tell anyone." She gave a low sniff.

Vegeta looked down at her face and saw the tears were streaming down her cheeks and pooling on his jacket. Her tears made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn't want to push her away, or run, or move at all. But, he didn't like to see the tears in her eyes.

"Don't cry," he said, probably a little too harshly, "It makes you look ugly."

"It's impossible for me not to cry. You won't. So I'm crying in your place. So I'll just be ugly," Bulma insisted with a loud, stubborn sniffle.

A corner of Vegeta's mouth almost smiled at her as he thought, _you couldn't be ugly if you tried._

They sat together like that for a while and stared out on the placid lake. When the sky started to burn red, they quietly got down from the tree and walked their separate paths back to each respective house.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading and please send reviews!

[Update:] Thanks for all the great responses to this chapter. The scraped knee scene is also my favorite and I'm glad it really came across so well to you guys. It made me want to write more sweet and innocent scenes with young Vegeta and Bulma, but I knew that is a different story. If you've read my other story you know I love to write that unspoken tension and that push and pull between characters, but tranquil youthful happiness doesn't seem to have anywhere to go forward in my eyes. We like conflict, and that's all there is to it. So indulging in this cuteness is fun once and a while in a story. Please continue to submit Reviews!


	3. Uncle Dearest

**Chapter 3: Uncle Dearest**

A man sits in the office, a crystal tumbler of strong smelling red-brown liquid swirls in slow circles in his hand. A pleasure filled grin on his face dripping with playful and terrible ideas. When he heard the front door close and small footsteps ascend the stairs, he called out.

"Vegeta, Come to my office please" Frieza said.

The use of 'my' didn't escape Vegeta and the corners of his mouth bent down as he approached the doors to his father's home office. It was richly decorated in commanding dark woods and thick books. Frieza sat in the huge leather chair by the fireplace. Father's favorite chair. The lights were dim and the fire cast mischievous shadows all over the room that ducked and danced around the furniture.

"Where did you go all evening? You missed the whole service. There were some very important people there that I wanted you to say hello to. Everyone wondered where you had gone. The media had a field day about it," Freiza put his glass down on the table and walked over the boy still standing in the doorway. "How are we supposed to show a strong family front if you are missing?" he said forcefully but almost sweetly, as he brought his closed hand down on the boy's temple. The blow had sent Vegeta to his knees. Frieza was shouting at full force now, "You made me look like a fool!"

Vegeta looked at the smear of blood on his hand after touching near his eye. At first his didn't understand what it was, his ears were ringing from being strike on the side of his head and he couldn't quite hear the continued insults and commands of his Uncle as the older man circled him like a vulture. He wasn't there, he just stared the red liquid on his hand. And then he began to realize, it was his blood. _My blood. Father's blood and he can't take that away from me._

"Now, you will be going to a military boarding school tomorrow morning. You need some damned discipline. I had to offer those greedy bastards a bundle as a donation to take you this late in the year. And then—"

"No," Vegeta said, his voice was low, but strong.

"What was that? Do you talk back to me, you little brat?" Frieza lifted Vegeta off the floor and into the air by his collar.

"I said, NO" Vegeta was shouting the words into his face, "No, I will not go to some boarding school. No, I will not sit back and let you take over what my father worked his whole life on. My parent's death is not your golden opportunity to move up. As soon as I'm 18, I'll take the company back, and you'll—"

His words were stopped abruptly by another blow to the side of his face. "No one says NO to me! You will do as I say, you little shit! Or I'll—"

"You'll what? What else can you take away from me?" Vegeta's voice almost cracked from the lump in his throat and the pressure of all that was so swiftly stolen from him.

Frieza looked down at the boy, gears turning behind his eyes. It was true. Violence obviously wasn't making the boy submissive and would only lead to problems for him later if anyone found out. As he looked at the boy's tiny clenched fists he did remember something. He dropped the boy's collar so he fell to the floor and grinned at him.

"I didn't know you were so close with the Briefs girl. I saw you two run off together," Frieza said in a casual and sweet sounding voice, as he walked back to his glass of bourbon and leather chair. He poured more of the liquid from a crystal canister into his glass as he spoke, "She really is cute, going to be a real beauty when she grows up."

The balled rock that had been stuck in Vegeta's throat all day suddenly dropped to the bottom of his stomach. His face fell and his eyes grew at the man's words.

"It's dangerous, you know, a girl from such a wealthy family can often be the target of kidnappings. They snatch her for a ransom and if they parents don't pay up, you've got a very pretty little girl in danger. Maybe not a kidnapping, those are often a mess of crying parents and reporters. What about a robbery that goes bad? A group comes in to steal a few priceless items and a little girl stumbles upon them. Happens all too often when a robbery goes bad and a little girl ends up dead. It would be tragic," Frieza took a long, loud sip of his drink. "Just tragic. Do you see what I'm saying, Vegeta?"

Vegeta was frozen in his spot. All the oxygen seemed to have been sucked up and burned in the fireplace. All Vegeta could think of were images of Bulma in a tiny coffin next to his parents. She wasn't laughing or running, she was still and cold, pressed into that pillowy-lined box.

"All right," Vegeta said, his voice seemed impossibly small.

"All right, what?" Freiza insisted, emphasizing each word neatly like he was chopping vegetables.

"All right, I'll go. I'll do whatever you want. Just leave her alone," Vegeta reiterated while trying to keep the desperation from his voice.

"Good boy, Vegeta. You leave in the morning, so be packed up by then. Now go on," Frieza said, trying his best to sound like a doting parent from a TV show. The allusion failed.

The fireplace seemed incredibly loud as Vegeta turned and left the room. As he walked down the halls to his own room, Vegeta felt like the whole room was roaring. He saw the trunk placed in his room, its lid open in a silent order to be filled. Vegeta ripped off his suit jacket and kicked the trunk so its lid slammed shut. The roaring grew louder, and he put his hands over his ears. And then all of a sudden it was silenced as he looked up and out of his window. From across the large yard, he could see Bulma's large round balcony and into her room. A knee length pink nightgown and hair hanging flat and limp around her face. She was walking to the door to switch the light off before climbing into bed. Without a thought, Vegeta was climbing out of his own window and running across the yard.

-o-o-o-o-

Bulma was always quick to falling asleep, plus crying so much has exhausted her more than she realized. After brushing her teeth and brushing her hair, she was practically sleepwalking as she moved to shut off the bedroom lights. She fell onto the bed and curled into the covers. Soft moonlight caste deep shadows into her room and across her ceiling. As her eyes drifted fully closed, she watched the shadows of tree branches and flowing curtains sway back and forth on her ceiling. _Looks like their dancing_.

As she drifted off into the moving shadows she saw it; one of the shadows moved towards her, its body bending gracefully with each step forward. It was a leopard. Its eyes were sharp and glowing as it moved out of the shadows, stern and focused on one thing; her. She thought that she should be afraid of this imposing cat as it took each powerful stride towards her, but she felt only joy and excitement as if she had simply been waiting for the leopard to arrive. Its spots looked like watchful eyes peering out on all sides. She reached out and touched the cat's cheek and bringing their foreheads to touch together. The leopard was warm and soft and nuzzling its face into her neck as it pulled its body closer to her.

And then, the leopard disappeared, its warmth gone and Bulma felt only lost. She sat up, looking for where the gentle beast had gone, but instead of the soft warmth she had moments ago, there was now a chaotic ballroom. Pairs of figures dressed in black twisting and spinning around her, no one taking much notice of the girl sitting on the floor. As the figures spun in a playful waltz, they wept and cried and whispering condolences to each other. The crying and whispering grew so loud that Bulma had to put her hands over her ears, but it didn't help and seemed to only made them louder. All she knew was that she had to find the leopard. She began pushing and running through the crowd of dancers, lost in the swirls of fabric and black lace-veiled faces. She made it! She was at the balcony and without a look back, she leapt off the side and dived into the air.

She forgot how long she had been swimming, it felt like ages, pushing her arms and kicking through the heavy air. She didn't have to worry about breathing under water; she had always been a good swimmer. She was growing anxiety though. She couldn't see it behind her, but she knew it was there. The purple crocodile. Or was it an alligator? She did know, but it was getting closer, faster then she could ever swim. Its grin growing wider as it got closer and closer to nipping off her ankles and pulling her down into the dark water below. But before the crocodile closed its smiling jaws down on her foot, she was lifted out of the water and into someone's arms.

_Bulma?_ He whispered into her ear.

Bulma felt her smile overtake her whole body. "Thank goodness it's you. I was looking for you." Her arms pulled their bodies tight together and she buried her face into the crook of his shoulder and neck. Her ear pressing down just under his collarbone. After a long moment of flying over the ocean, she knew he was talking to her, but could only feel the rumble of his throat and chest purring. He was stroking her hair and talking, but Bulma still couldn't make out any of it. Until she finally confessed, "Silly Vegeta, Leopards can't talk" and leaned up to kiss his cheek gently.

He looked so sad. She wasn't sure how you tell if a leopard is sad, but this one was. He took her face in his hand then, his hand seemed huge certainly not the hand of a young boy, and cupped her cheek gently. He held their foreheads together just as she had done earlier, and pressed his large wet cat nose to her lips. It only touched for a second, like an accident, but then he did it again. _It'll be alright. __Just keep dreaming,_ she understood him that time! They spent the rest of the night floating over the endless ocean.

A/N: Thanks for reading! And Reviewing! Everyone grows up a next chapter, you have been warned.


	4. Distance

Not Mine! Please support the official release by Akira Toriyama. The world needs more Dragonball Z**  
**

**Chapter 4: Distance**

Bulma pressed the gas faster as she blazed through the dusty empty road. She loved this feeling; pushing against the wind on a wide empty road on her motorcycle. As a kid she had loved taking her hands off the handle bars, lift them into the air and 'flying' even if it was just for a few seconds. She knew better then to take her hands off the wheel of her motorcycle, but that didn't keep her from driving it as fast as she could. She still smiled at remembering the first time she let her hands leave her bike handlebars. _Vegeta_. He had kissed her foolish scraped knee, and no matter the bumps or bruises that ensued, she was addicted to that feeling of flying. Of adventure. And right now, she was seeking her other favorite memory. _I'm coming Vegeta._

It has been five years since Bulma has seen Vegeta. After days and months of crying and begging and desperate tantrums of frustration, Bulma took matters into her own hands. The new man next door, that kept insisting that she call him 'Uncle Frieza', gave her a new story every day. After months of now obvious lies, he simply refused to tell her where Vegeta had gone. So Bulma wrote letters and gave them to the 'Uncle'. Each week, she brought a letter. And each week, the man took them, but quickly his greasy smile melting away into annoyance and anger at her continued pestering questions and requests. She went to friends, to her teachers and even to the police, but they all claimed ignorance or just dismissed the young girl. It wasn't until years later that she saw a picture of him in the newspaper with his 'Uncle Frieza' posing in front of his family company logo. He had grown up a lot but she could recognize him immediately. Same hair and the same stubborn stance. However, his glare and frown seemed deeper than she ever remembered.

_I should've been a detective, but a genius like me is good at everything._ In the photo she noticed the emblem on his jacket. After some searching online and several phone calls, she discovered what school he was enrolled at for the past few years. It was a private military school out in the boonies. Next to a lake with hockey and lacrosse and lots of boys in blue uniforms, but far away. And last week, with her driver's permit still with fresh ink, she made the decision. She was going to see him. It had been six years, but today she was going to see her best friend.

She passed through a tiny one stop-sign town and then her GPS lead her to an iron gate surrounded by brick walls. She parked the red bike in front of the gate and swung her leg over the seat to stand and confront this iron barrier. She took her helmet off and checked her hair in the side mirror of her bike. The wind had blown some pieces loose, but still look gorgeous. As she primped in the tiny mirror, a bell rang out and a hundred bodies clad in dark blue exited one of the brick buildings.

_This is it._ Bulma fidgeted with the hem of her shorts as her stomachs tied into a series of vibrating knots. She pulled her latest letter from her pocket and clutched it to her chest. She walked towards the gate barring her way, searching each face for the one.

A boy wearing his best one-night-prince smile leaned an elbow on the gate and said hello.

"Uh hi. Sorry I'm looking for someone," Bulma brushed him off.

"Maybe if you show me a peek of your panties I'll help you find this person," his bold suggestion earned some laughs and backslaps from the growing number of boys that joined him in front of the gate.

Bulma rolled her eyes, but pinched her mouth together as she considered this proposal. Before the debate in her mind got much farther, she saw something familiar.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hey Vegeta, Are you coming to Beason Hall tonight?" he said as he caught up with the shorter man.

"Nappa, what else are we supposed to do here on the weekends? Yes, we will go to Beason and yes once again I will beat you in pool," Vegeta said, not slowing his pace a step. They continued to talk about weekend plans and classes when Jaice run up, his cheeks red and the goofy grin across his face.

"Dude, dude, Duuude! There's a girl. A Girl! At the front gate, there is a really hot girl," Jaice blurted out between gasps of air.

Vegeta stopped walking so he could insult him better, "Jaice, I'm sure any female would be hot when you've been cut off from anything resembling the opposite sex," Vegeta would like to continue on to the cafeteria, but he was curious too, and raised an eyebrow to peek over Jaice's shoulder towards the gate. He saw the wheel of a motorcycle, but the huddle of ten guys by the gate blocked any view of the strange visitor.

"Come on, Vegeta, lets say hello," Nappa gave an evil grin, "It would only be polite."

Vegeta rolled his eyes and turned back towards the cafeteria. He had no interest in joining the growing crowd by the gate. He started to walk away when his name rang out over the campus. His head shot to face the gate. The crowd of bodies that had blocked his view had parted to reveal her. She was taller, as tall as him now, and her long legs were bare and shapely under a short dress cinched in by a belt around her waist. Her blue hair seemed more blue and pulled back into a ponytail then knotted into a large braid, capped with a large gaudy bow. Her eyes were huge and glittering, her mouth still open wide from shouting his name. It was her. It was Bulma. He doesn't know this Bulma. This Bulma is, is... _Beautiful_, he thought with a sad frown. But despite his brain, his feet were carrying him towards the gate. His eyes never leaving hers.

He watched her. She gripped both hands on the iron bars next to her face, her eyes glittering with life, maybe even tears as she talked a mile a minute at him. Her voice was so sweet, filled with memories of giggles and childhood secrets. As she pressed closer to the iron bars, he could see that she was certainly not a child anymore. Two golden apples pressed against bars under her hands.

"I read about this place online before I came. Don't those stripes on your arm mean that you are a Lance Corporal? Do these ranks transfer outside of the school? I never got the impression that you would want to go into the military. But you dad was in the military before he started Ouji Corporation, so that makes sense. You always emulated him. When I first saw you I could have swore-"

"What are you doing here?" Vegeta finally said.

She paused talking for the first time. Her smile not leaving her face yet as she shock the confusion from her head, "What?"

"What are you doing here? Vegeta said more forcefully. His eyes angry and glaring into her.

"Well, I... I wanted to see you," Bulma felt stupid all of a sudden. Seeing him really had been her only goal and saying it allowed to him all of a sudden felt ridiculous. "I haven't seen you in six years. You just disappeared without saying goodbye. I wrote you every week, and gave the letters to your uncle, but he won't tell me where you went. So when I saw you in the newspaper and found out where you were going to school and once I had my driving permit I made the trip to see you... I " Bulma felt her voice break under his glare. "Why are you being so mean? I came to see you. Ar- aren't you happy to see me?"

"You shouldn't be here," Vegeta said, "Go! Just get lost." He looked stern and cold even when the tears started to push and burn around her eyes. Then in an instant, her eyes turned angry and hurt as her hand flew through the bars and pushed a palm onto his body. He looked down at the small hand pressing a folded piece of paper to his chest, then the slender fingers were gone. His own calloused hands reacted to catch the light pink paper remained.

He heard her bike roar to life in an instant and then all he could see was her back driving away. She didn't even look back one, he thought. All the remained now was dusty road blown into the air and the soft pink paper still being held over his heart.

Vegeta ignored the voices of the ten or so boys that crowded around him, all demanding for more information on the blue haired vixen. Each calling dibs after hearing of his rejection. Vegeta would hear nothing of it; he pushed the letter deep into his pocket and walked to his barracks room.

Once the voices that had been following him quieted outside his door, he removed the crumpled envelope from his pocket. He looked at the swift gentle strokes of her lettering of his name. Just his name, no address, because she knew she'd be delivering it by hand. He didn't know she had been writing him letters, he had never received one, assuming the one cause for the postal failure. His uncle never sent them. He turned the envelope over and gently ripped at the seal until he liberate the soft pink paper inside.

_Dear Vegeta, _

_It has been a while since my last letter. Sorry about that. I was out with Goku looking for the Dragonballs, so I wasn't able to write. Sitting down to write a letter is not the first thing you think to do when lost in the wilderness or turned into a carrot. Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm writing you now and I'm coming to see you! _

_Chichi, a girl in my class, is just head over heals for Goku, but the guy just doesn't get it. You'd think he didn't know what a girl is! Well he seems determined to get him to date her, so I suggested making him a bento and giving it to him at lunch. What better way to get close to Goku but to feed him! _

_You remember Yamcha? We called him Cat Scratch as kids, well he is at my school now. He used to pick on me, but I think it was just because he is violently shy. Can you be violently shy? Well, he used to be really terribly shy and couldn't talk to girls at all. Of course I love to tease him about it. He seems to be a lot better and can talk to me a bit at least. _

_I've long suspected that your uncle was keeping my letters from reaching you, but I still kept writing them. It may seem silly, but I felt it was keeping me close to you, even if the letters were one sided. But when I saw your picture in the news and discovered where you were going to school, I knew I had to see you for myself. Just to be sure you were real and not some imaginary friend I created as a child. Otherwise, these letters are going to be as silly as the ones we sent to Santa. _

_I am nervous about seeing you again. I mean, it has been six years! I have so many questions and much I want to catch up with you about. I guess I could have called but this will be so much more fun. Plus I want to see your face when you see me for the first time in so long. Will you be able to recognize me?_ [There was another question but it was scratched and marked over till just a black line and Vegeta couldn't make it out.] _Well, no need for a long letter because I'm going to see you today! _

_See you soon, _

_Bulma_

Vegeta read the letter over and over again. He continued to read the words in his mind as he folded the paper back together and put it in his pocket. He smiled and growled at reading about Goku and Yamcha respectively. She was right, he had never received a single letter. He leaned back on his bunk, stretching his arms behind his head as a pillow and thought about what the other letters were about. Probably like this one, full of silly daily events and nonsense, but still holding tiny pieces of Bulma that pooled and clung to his skin so that she stayed with him long after the letter was refolded.

Vegeta wished he felt proud of her continued dedication to sending him letters, even when realizing it was futile. He wished his felt warmed at her words of anticipation at just getting to see him again. However, all he felt was hallow. Seeing those tears in her eyes had blown a hole through his chest and stomach.

"She'll hate me forever now" he said to the empty room, but all the impact was felt as his chest tightened.

A/N: Thanks again for reading!


	5. Old New Neighbor

**Chapter 5: Old New Neighbor**

"I'm telling you Launch, one day my mom is going to go all Mrs. Robinson and try to steal my boyfriend! It doesn't help that she looks and acts like a vapid beauty queen," Bulma said into the telephone as she wandered around her balcony. "Don't get me wrong, I love her dearly, but the way she ogles Yamcha is shameful! And don't get me started on Yamcha. He was so checking her out too, and it was just gross. He has really changed since we entered high school. At first he hated all the attention he got from other girls, but now...if I wasn't on him all the time about it, he would be such a playboy! I mean, last week he-" Bulma stopped talking all of a sudden at the sight of someone across the yard outside.

"Uh Bulma? You there?" the voice on the phone seemed far away at the moment. Bulma's eyes and whole body was focused on the person exiting the car in the next driveway.

"Vegeta," she said involuntarily allowed. "Launch, I've got to go," Bulma said clicking the phone off before waiting for a reply. As fast as 'instant transmission' she had dodged into the room. She hid behind the curtains and peeked out at the person pulling a large duffle bag from the trunk. "It is him. Vegeta. He looks just the same... Shit! What is he doing back here?"

-o-o-o-o-o-

"So I'm going to need to come back home," said the voice over the phone.

Vegeta gave a long pause as his mouth pulled into a deeper frown, "No".

A low bang could even be heard over the phone has Frieza slammed his fist into his desk. There was a long inhale to get his anger under control, "Vegeta, this deal is very important to the company and Dr. Briefs has made this insane request to talk with you before agreeing to participate. Now you will return to the West City and you will speak with him this week. It will be just like that photo shoot at the shareholders meetings last year."

"Yes, and I disagreed with that as well." Vegeta said, his arms tied across his chest and he leaned against the wall by the hall phone. The school didn't allow phones in the rooms so there was always a line of guys standing by the payphone in the hall, all impatient to talk to family or girlfriends, but Vegeta was stuck talking to his uncle. Plus all the company made it harder for Vegeta to simply tell him to 'fuck off' and hang up. The guy next to him gestured to his watch as Frieza ranted on.

"What do you want?" Frieza said. In an instant Bulma's blue eyes flashed in front of his face. "What do you want if you do this for me, I mean the company? How old are you now? You want a car? Travel? Some-"

"I want to come back to West City," Vegeta said turning away from the crowd of boys.

"What? West City? As in a visit?" Frieza said,

"No, not a visit. I want to go to Senior High School in West City next fall. I'm sick of marching around in circles every day," Vegeta said the reason casually.

Frieza paused for a long moment, considering the reasoning of this proposal. He knew that the Briefs Girl wasn't delivering letters anymore. Girls that age are fickle after all. But why else would he want to return? Well whatever the reason, this deal is worth the brat in the house. "Fine, I'll send it up for you to leave at the end of the semester and you can come back to the house. But until then, a car will be picking you up to have a lunch with Dr. Briefs and you will get his commitment to this new spaceship project. Am I understood?"

"Yes Sir," Vegeta spat out as he hung up the phone and walked confidently away from the hall phone and line of impatient boys in blue. Once inside his room he looked at the canvas duffle bag on top of his wardrobe. _I'm going home,_ he thought. He didn't know what possessed him to say such a request, or what he was really getting himself into. It was just the only thing he could think of that he really wanted. Ever since Bulma had visited the year before, she was always floating in the back of his mind. Over the years that he had pushed away her and everything else, but she had followed him. And she wasn't the same little tomboy anymore. She certainly is anything but boyish.

With a satisfied smirk, Vegeta pulled the canvas duffle down and started packing. This time, he would be chasing her.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Good afternoon, Dr. Briefs" Vegeta said, shaking the thin old hand firmly. Dr. Brief's shaggy mustache stretched over his smile at seeing Vegeta. He was still wearing a shabby lab coat with the Capsule Corp emblem on it. Even though it had been several years, he hadn't aged a day.

"It has been a long time, Vegeta. Please have a seat and tell me all about what you've been up to," Dr. Briefs said, gesturing to the chair across from him. A waiter pushed the chair in behind Vegeta, which earned him a startling glare from the young man. The starched white linen tablecloth fell all the way to the floor of the mostly empty dining area. The soft sound of clinging crystal and a gentle sonata played by the pianist in the adjacent room. Each polished silver fork, spoon and knife sat in a regimented row next to his plate. Vegeta hated these stuffy restaurants. _Why do I need all these forks?_ He thought, knocking one fork with his finger so that it fell out of line.

"Not much to say really. Military school is full of structure and discipline, but has it been rewarding to really get to know the people that will one day use products created by Ouji Corporation." Vegeta said the rehearsed line like a seasoned politician. "That is why I'm here today. Capsule Corp partnering with Ouji-"

"Do you like Cheeseburgers?" Dr. Briefs said, folding his menu and dropping it on top of his row of forks. Vegeta looked up at him confused, thrown off by the sudden question.

"Yeah, cheeseburgers are great. I don't think you could get one here though," Vegeta frown the comment to the waiter across the room.

"I remember you loved cheeseburgers as a kid. You could eat a dozen of them! I remember Bunny needing to cook twice the burgers when we had cookouts with you around." Before Vegeta could process this new situation, Dr. Briefs was on his feet and heading out the door. "Come on, I know a great place."

Vegeta stood up and followed the eccentric inventor out of the restaurant with a smirk. "Absolutely" Before he knew it, they were both sitting on a bench at a drive-in with grease dripping down his wrist and into the cuffs of his suit.

"So tell me what happened with Bulma?" Dr. Briefs said wiping a paper napkin under his mustache. Vegeta had just taken a big bite and choked a bit before answering. Dr. Briefs patted him on the back before he continued.

"What?" he choked out.

"Well for years she was sending you letters, at least she was writing them and giving them to your uncle, whether or not they were sent is another story. But for years she wrote you, and then about a year ago she swiped one of the capsuled motorcycle prototypes from the lab and ran off. I thought she was up to her usual adventurous ways, but she came back late that same night and was really upset. Locked herself in her room for days. Then she stopped writing you. She wouldn't say anything about it. So, like I said before, what happened with Bulma?"

The speech gave Vegeta a little time to swallow this time and cleared his throat before speaking, "It's a long story"

"Unless you are as old as I am, no story is too long. Eh. Besides, I'm sure I already know what happened." Dr. Briefs gave a knowing nod as he stroked his hairy mustache.

"Yeah," Vegeta said with a heavy pause, "she probably hates me now,"

"Why would she hate you? Master Roshi is the perv trying to see her panties! My poor Bulma, I'm sure she was traumatized by it." Dr. Briefs said looking utterly confused.

After the bewilderment became clear, he nearly burst out laughing. "You're right. I have nothing to worry about," said Vegeta with a squeezed laugh.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"You okay Bulma? You seem distracted,"

"Yeah Yamcha I think your hair would look great shorter," Bulma said in a distant vacate voice. He didn't know it, but the sight of the familiar face earlier that day was still haunting her. She wasn't sure if she was hiding from him or looking to confront him either.

"Bulma," Yamcha said more firmly as he parked the car in front of her house. But he still didn't have her attention; instead she was ducking low in her chair and searching out the window for something. "Bulma? What are you looking for?" He said, peeking over her shoulder.

Bulma shot up hearing his voice so close to her ear. "Nothing! Nothing at all," she said putting on an exaggerated smile as she shook her head. She kissed his cheek and jumped out of the car and trotted to the front door of her house. Yamcha followed close behind, unwilling to let the evening end with a kiss on the cheek.

"Uh Bulma," Yamcha said catching up to her and wrapping an arm around her slim waist.

"Yeah?" Bulma said turning inside his arms to look at him. "Look sorry Yamcha, I've just had a lot on my mind today-"

"Your eyes are really pretty," Yamcha said as profoundly as his could muster as he slid his hand down her back and pulled her closer.

Bulma wanted to roll her eyes at the knucklehead, but when he leaned in to kiss her, she let him. Their relationship wasn't really about talking anyway. Bulma was just beginning to relax into the wet kisses when through her eyelashes she saw something move behind Yamcha. It was a pair of dark eyes that seemed to glow despite the darkness that surrounded each orb. The eyes were focused on her, drilling into her. Pushing Yamcha away as a gasp pulled air into her body and yet still she still felt like she had forgotten to breathe long ago and was now light headed and hallucinating. No, the eyes were there! She saw them move towards her in hushed steps, like a panther stalking its prey. No, a leopard. The eyes stepped into the light of the porch lamps and features formed from the shadows.

"Vegeta," Bulma said in a whisper.

"Vegeta? Like Vegeta, from way back in grade school? Dude! What are you doing hiding in the dark? You know even as a kid you were creepy." Yamcha scoffed turning around, but he might as well have been talking to himself; the other two on the porch with him were focused entirely on each other.

Vegeta leaned back into a wide smirk, "You're dating Cat Scratch? I thought you would do better than this Neanderthal," he said.

"I am not a neander-whatever! I happen to be the Captain of the Baseball team now. Bulma and I have been dating for a year now. And no one calls me Cat Scratch! These scars are from training in the woods. What happened to you? Your hair is weirder than I remember,"

Bulma was shocked still. _When did his voice get so...so deep and raspy?_ She thought, still feeling the hairs on her arms standing up. The two boys were throwing words back and forth, with one obvious side that had far better insults still waiting to be used. _He looks just like he did last year when, she mouth bent low in a frown as she remembered, when-_

"Enough you two!" Bulma shouted slamming her hands into her hips, her perfect bitch-out position. "Vegeta, what are you doing on my porch? Or in West City for that matter?"

Vegeta re-tied his arms over his chest as he stepped within inches of Bulma. She didn't budge. "First, I was discussing business with your father until he stepped inside a moment ago. And then I had the unfortunate display of you and this weakling groping each other. Ugh, it was like he was trying to lick your face off and swallow it. I wish I could burn out my retinas."

Bulma bloomed red and puffed out her cheeks in anger, but before she could yell he continued.

"As for your second question, I'll be attending Senior High School this fall,"

That woke Bulma up, "WHAT?"

"Yeah, It will be a whole new school for me so please take care of me," Vegeta sarcastically said with a smirk as he turned to exit the porch and return to the neighboring house.

"Take care of you?" She shouted to his back. Yamcha slowly back away, looking at his car longingly. "I don't want you anywhere near me! You are a cruel, cold, heartless monster and I hate you!" Bulma ran and stopped directly in his path, making him stop walking to face her. She glared into his eyes, "Just Get Lost, you asshole." She said in a menacing voice that snaked out between her teeth. She stared for another long moment before disappearing from his face and into the house behind him.

A/N: I changed Ashley to Launch. I had thought to do this in the beginning, but I like Launch, and I don't especially like it when stories try to squeeze every character from the anime into it (there are just too many)... well Not anymore!


	6. I've been looking for you

Not Mine, so please support the official release by Akira Toriyama. The world needs more Dragonball Z

**Chapter 6: I've been looking for you...  
**  
"O.M.G. Bulma! Your hair is incredible!" The squealing nasal voice said, giving great pause to each letter of O.M.G.

Bulma gave the puff of curls rising from her head an encouraging pat. She primped and posed as the girls around her praised and giggled.

"Oh Launch. I'm just trying something new," Bulma said grinning.

"Hey, Babe," Yamcha chimed in as he moved towards the group of girls. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before a puzzled expression passed over his face, "Isn't your hair different than it was Friday?"

Bulma giggled away the annoyance at the obvious question, "I'm trying something new. You like?"

"Uh... yeah, sure. As long as you don't cut it short. You know I dig chicks with long hair," he answered with a shrug before pulling her waist so that she was pressed to him.

"Yeah, I got the idea from-"

"Oh Damn, Who is that?" Launch interrupted, her eyes focused far behind Bulma's mass of curls and outside the school. The other girls had followed suit and stared at the figure exiting a black car and taking commanding strides towards the school. He wore dark denim jeans and a black tank top that hugged his torso so tight he must have been sewn into it

Bulma clenched her fists a boiling anger formed in her chest.

"Oh yeah, do you guys remember Vegeta from elementary school? He was the dark and creepy kid," Yamcha, always chiming in with helpful information, said to the circled group, "He going to school here now."

"Shut up! That Vegeta?" Launch said, her wide eyes sinking low as a twisted smile grew, "he certainly grew up."

Desperate to change the subject, Bulma reached into her tiny pink backpack and pulled out a science book then loudly asked Yamcha, "Honey, can you help me with this problem?"

"Uh, science huh?" Yamcha said, "Oh yeah, you get force by adding all those together,"

Wrong, Bulma thought. "Oh! Thanks babe," she said with a peck on the cheek.

"You've got to be kidding me," a voice interrupted. Bulma nearly bite Yamcha when she heard the raspy voice behind her.

Launch stepped forward, at least her chest did, as she twirled her hair, "Hi Vegeta. We were in the same class in elementary school, Launch Youkaiko. Remember me?"

Vegeta pulled his arms across his chest and gave her a long look before the realization came to him. "Oh yeah, didn't I convince you that eating worms was normal and then you tried to share some with Todd Patterson?"

Launch's chest fell, literally, as she remembered her early life trauma. Todd had been a crush of her for a whole week and he was not impressed with her gift, or her demonstration of the best ways to eat the slippery creatures. "Yeah," she quietly muttered before disappearing down the hall. Some of the group followed her with words of comfort, others whispered about the previously unknown habit of worm eating. Yamcha saw Krillin enter the school and used this as an opportunity to escape; he also wanted to avoid any embarrassing stories from his own past coming out.

"Nice, Vegeta, she will hate you know, and Launch knows how to spread bad news better than anyone. Don't you want to make a good impression at a new school?" Bulma said, a splinter of concern cut into the anger in her voice.

"Why should I care what that idiot thinks? Why do you care what someone like that think? And you are pretending to be dumber than the stooge you are dating?" Vegeta retorted.

"That- that is just not true!" Bulma blushed at being caught so easily.

"It's pathetic to lower yourself and pretend to be a good match for that idiot. Why are you pushing to make yourself like those losers? Who is this person?" Vegeta said gesturing to her afro of blue hair and mini skirt and clingy top. The anger boiled over inside Bulma's chest and she clenched her fists until her manicured nails dug into the palms of his hands.

"Pathetic? You just don't understand what it is like to love someone! You have never loved anyone but yourself! To love someone and sacrifice for that person, to do anything for them!" Bulma was shouting now, the words echoing off the now empty walls, the last bell going unnoticed long ago.

"You don't have a clue what you are talking about, Woman!" the words left Vegeta's mouth in hot, low growls as his arms uncrossed while he stepped towards her. He body seemed to beat down into Bulma's for a long moment. His eyes were focused into hers, working deeper to seek out the answers lost between them.

Bulma stared back at him, pushing back his gaze with her own. And then, without a word, he moved away from her and left her standing in the empty hallway alone.

-o-o-o-o-o-

_Fuck! What the fuck and I doing here?_, Vegeta yelled inside his head as he left the school's front door; the one he had only moments before entered for the first time. He stormed forward with no direction in mind, since he didn't know his way around, but his foot knew how to find seclusion on their own. Soon he was sitting near the top of the football and track field bleachers. He leaned back into the hard, flat wood and metal of the stadium seats. The early day's sun shone down on him with biting persistence, so he used his arm to block it out. "Fuck!" he shouted out loud this time. Coming here was a huge mistake. _What was I thinking? Why did I even want this? She obviously hates me. And dating that-_

A particularly friendly cloud that crossed the sun and tickled the hairs on his arm with a cool breeze. Some of the boiling anger evaporated from him in a long sigh. "What am I doing here?" he asked aloud. The breeze nor cloud gave him much answer, but remained quiet and pensive in their own way.

_It probably isn't a good idea to skip classes on my first day. Who cares, I'll just chalk it up to getting lost. Goku always seemed to get away with a lot by claiming ignorance. Then again, he is an idiot._ With that thought, Vegeta concluded he should probably attempt to attend class. _Fuck it all! Obviously, I am an idiot for getting myself in this mess._ With that he leaned farther back with his arms behind his head to take a determined nap. However, the yelling of a stocky teacher in obscenely short shorts made him curse a few more times as he got up and headed back down the bleachers.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Bulma was staring at her locker combination lock, confused how she couldn't seem to remember how to open it. It had been the same set of numbers for several years and yet she stood there with her arms tied to her books in front of her chest.

"Ah Miss Briefs. I've been looking for you. In fact, I was looking for you all during first period. Would you come to my office, please" Mr. Popo, the physics teacher said.

_Fuck_, Bulma thought. She hadn't gone to class after Vegeta left. Instead, she had hidden in the bathroom, pacing and biting the polish off her nails one by one. Seeing how angry Vegeta had gotten her only made her pace and chew her nails more. She finally snapped out of it when the bell rang, but just barely, because here she was staring at her locker like the numbers that had disappeared had taken her mind with them. She followed behind the teacher still clinging to her books.

"Now, Miss Briefs, I don't want to hear any excuses or cockamany reasonings behind your absence from class. But because you were gone, you did not get to choose a partner for the Midterm project, so you will be partnered with- I'm sorry, what was your name again? Ouija?"

"Ouji," came a raspy voice from behind her.

"Ah yes. Miss Briefs, you will be working with... this gentleman here on the project. He's a new student so try to make him feel welcome," Mr. Popo went on to explain more about the project, and handed them both worksheets with the deadlines and guidelines. Several sheets, in fact.

_Wait, did he say Midterm project, as in this will take half the semester to complete?_ Bulma's eyes darted over the sheets in her hands, to her books, at the teacher and then at the door in a desperate beg. She hadn't noticed him when she had walked into the room, consumed in her own cloud and fog, but now his presence felt enormous. His shadow seemed to loom over her even in the fluorescent lit room._ Fuck!_

"Now don't give me that look Miss Briefs. It may look like a lot of work, but you will have several months to accomplish it and I'm sure you and Mr. uh, your partner will make a great team. Most of the other groups are with four people, but think of this as a reminder to never skip my class again. So work hard, and I'll see you both in class tomorrow.

Mr. Popo left the classroom, and Vegeta left soon after without saying a word to the stunned girl. As the door shot with a louder than normal bang, Bulma finally remembered the combination to her locker. It was Vegeta's birthday.

-o-

A/N: Sorry for the long delay! No good excuse, just work. But I hope you all like the new chapter. Next one should be kinda soon. I really love all the reviews and words of encouragement, but I also love constructive criticism, so keep those reviews coming!

[Update:] Wow! 2,800 views, 20 favorites and 23 followers. But less than 50 reviews... Please review more. I like to see what you guys think.


	7. Goku as Negotiator

Not Mine, so please support the official release by Akira Toriyama. The world needs more Dragonball Z

**Chapter 7: ****Goku as Negotiator **  


"Slow down Goku! Geez you're going to choke!" Chichi exclaimed seeing Goku try to cram the two slices of pizza into his mouth. As much as it grossed her out, she liked to see how much he enjoyed eating. _Maybe I should learn to cook pizza- _Chichi mused with a blush. She had made herself culinary master in all kinds of dishes in order to create dishes for Goku over the past few years.

"Hey Chi, did you see that Vegeta is back in town? I haven't seen or heard from him since like... a long time!" Goku said in between mouthfuls of pizza.

"Yeah, I was sitting between them both in English Lit. Like literally inside the crossfire of the laser beams they were shooting at each other the whole class! It is so weird. They used to be best friends in elementary school. What do you think happened between them?" Chichi said nodding that Goku could have her last piece of pizza.

"Vegeta said it was about something that happened a couple years ago,"

Chichi looked at him dumbstruck, "You've talked to Vegeta? When? I tried to even say hello to him and he looked at me like I was a rotten fish. I mean I never really met him, but I heard all about him from Bulma before she started high school and turned into the prom queen." Chichi rolled her eyes. The past two years hadn't been easy for her friendship with Bulma. Goku had always been like a little brother to Bulma, and they often went on adventures together. Others joined them, like Krillian, Tien, and soon after Vegeta left, Chichi became a constant addition to the Goku and Bulma gang. Of course, Chichi had her own reasons for hanging around so much. Chichi smiled remembering her "first date" with Goku as kids, in which they just spared. _But really, _she thought, _it was a pretty good date. _Goku was already waving down the waitress for another pizza pie.

However, once everyone entered high school...Bulma had become a different person, suddenly hanging out with Launch Youkaiko... ugh! That girl is so two faced! Before, while growing up, Bulma was strong-willed and a brilliant inventor. And then, she began to use her looks and body to get her way, going so far as to offer a flash of her panties to get what she wanted, that would make any feminist lose faith in women. She only seemed to care about clothes, hair and having a boyfriend immediately. She still socialized with the old gang, but Chichi just couldn't relate to this Bulma anymore, and they were quickly drifting apart. _I doubt Goku really notice any difference in her,_ Chichi thought, _he has never been the most observant. But maybe Vegeta showing up again will be a good thing. I saw them in the hallway when he first got to campus, and he called her out on the ditz act right away. _

"Oh yeah, Chichi! I invited Vegeta to that surprise birthday party her mom is having for Bulma. He didn't seem like he wanted to go at first, but after reminded him about Bulma's mom's famous barbeque sauce and endless ribs, he agreed to come. Should be fun, right? Boy, will Bulma be surprised! The whole gang back together!" Goku said. His eyes got big when he saw the waitress coming with his next deep-dish supreme pizza with everything on it.

"Goku are you nuts? Have you been in the same room together with them? You don't even know! It is like defusing a bomb, in a haunted house, in the middle of a mind field surrounded by bears, and the bears have knives. You have to tame them." Seeing his confusion, Chichi clarified. "Vegeta and Bulma, not the bears. They will destroy each other, then become possessed by an evil alien and destroy the whole world. Before the party, ok? I'm counting on you Goku." Chichi said giving him her best encouraging pat on the shoulder before quickly retreating from the table for the bathroom.

Pizza sauce and a piece of pepper dripped from Goku's chin. "What?"

-o-o-o-o-o-

Vegeta was setting up the bar weights so he could do some squats. The weight room at the school was small but had all the equipment he needed for a solid workout. Since it was football season, the team would outside running drills, so the room was empty. The gym teacher had not wanted to give Vegeta access to the weight room at first, since he was not a part of any team, didn't have a partner to spot and there always needed to be a teacher present to make sure no one got hurt. It was just school policy. So Vegeta found his own way of saying please, he stole the keys from a twiggy track team sprinter who quickly abandoned his five pound weight after seeing Vegeta. Trying to build some triceps definition all of a sudden seemed useless when seeing what real muscle looked like on Vegeta.

The boombox in the corner was busted, but Vegeta preferred his own music as he slipped his ear buds on from behind his head. The cord snaked down his back beneath his tank top and into the pocket of his shorts and stayed out of his way the whole workout. He scrolled through the music and decided on Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and the Flames" and turned it way up to shut out everything else.

As the music begins, the drum beats start to build, and Vegeta begins to get himself pumped up. He gives his arms a shake, then his leg as he walks closer to the bar. He stands under the bar, feeling the breath fill and heat inside his chest. Starting with his middle finger, he wraps each finger around the cross-hatched metal. He looks up at the mirror; hips square, chest arched as he fits the bar behind his neck. Then he slams his shoulders into the bar, building breath and anger together, and pushing away thoughts of anything but the bar and weight that he must lift. Standing with the bar held firmly behind his neck, he bends his knees low and then stands again.

"Oh! Hey Vegeta, I've been looking for you," Goku says as he sees Vegeta completing his eighth rep and drops the bar back onto the rack. Goku wanders farther into the room setting his water bottle down on a bench by the door.

Vegeta only grunts and moves to add another twenty pounds. "Hey are you sure you should be lifting 280 pounds without a spotter?" Goku continued, when the idea came to him, "Hey I could spot you!" _Great now I can try talking to him like Chichi said! _He thought with a grin_. _

Vegeta fit the last safety clamp back into place next to the new weights on the bar, before getting into position under the bar again. Goku stood behind him in order to offer a hand if he needed it.

"So listen, Vegeta, I've noticed, well Chichi noticed, but I agreed, that things seem really crazy between you and Bulma. Now I don't know exactly what happened between you two; Chichi said it was something that happened when Bulma went to visit you or something. Well, whatever happened, maybe you should just say you're sorry," Vegeta groaned deeply as he lifted the weight up. "Okay, not sorry. I mean you don't have to be really sorry, just say you're sorry and try to smooth things over with Bulma. You know what kind of temper she has..."

As Vegeta slammed the weight on the rack again, he looked at Goku through the mirror. _Is he talking to me? I should wear my headphones around him more often, _Vegeta thought with a smirk.

Vegeta could see Goku's mouth continue to move non-stop as he cleared the bar and moved them to the bench so he could start his bench presses. When he saw Goku pause and seem to be waiting for a response, so he gave a grunt and Goku's mouth continued.

Vegeta gave a small internal smirk at his simple minded friend. When he left all those years ago, he knew Goku would be there to watch over Bulma for him. Even if he was kinda an idiot, he was always a very reliable and loyal friend. As Vegeta lay back on the bench so he was just under the shiny metal bar. Goku stood above him, his fingertips floating near but not touching the bar as he waiting for Vegeta to start lifting. _Even if he IS annoying,_he thought seeing that Goku's mouth was still moving.

Vegeta pushed the air out of his lungs as he lifted the bar up. . _Did his mouth just say the word Bulma? _Vegeta thought, _of course that is what he is talking about. I was kinda hoping it was about lunch. Dammit! I came to the gym to try to get her out of my head! _Vegeta thought, grunting to finish the last rep before sitting up and standing to add some more weight to the bar. _I came to this damned place thinking I'd chase after her, but as soon as I saw her, all I did was get defensive and mad and just want to push away. How am I supposed to explain what happened back then? How do I explain why I had to leave? I can't just say "Hey Bulma, Frieza is a fucking creep who threatened to hurt you so I agreed to leave and was so I was a jerk to you. I totally didn't mean it at all and want you badly," I mean I could, but... no, No. I can't say that. _Vegeta continued lost in his thoughts as he laid back on the bench with yet another round of weight above him._ I've got to do something. Keeping my distance isn't getting me anywhere_, he thought.

As if on autopilot, he pushed the bar up and down with his breath in a steady rhythm. _What happened to her anyway? Pretending to be an idiot like that guy, not to mention dating him. She was never a shallow girl; she never put any importance on looks or any of that stupid shit. Of course we were kids, and we don't really think about things like that. But still, she is like a different person now. Or is she? Maybe she wasn't faking being vapid. Maybe we are just different people now. But, when she gets mad at me, I see the old Bulma in her eyes._ _I did always love to push her buttons, _Vegeta smirked at the idea, but it faded as he thought, _but it really isn't fun when she actually hates me. _

Goku helped guide the bar on the bench's rack as Vegeta finished the last rep. Vegeta sat up, leaning forward to catch his breath and let his arms and chest rest. Working out was always a way to release tension, anger and help clear his head, but it wasn't working today. He grabbed his towel from the room's only chair and wiped the sweat from his face and neck. Goku was clearing the weights and wiping down the bench and bar with the disinfectant spray.

Vegeta looked at his reflection in the mirror. _We both have changed a lot, _he thought with a twinge of grief. _But I've got to be sure. I'm not giving up on this until I'm sure. Alright. _Vegeta smirked deeply. _Ready or not, here I come, Bulma, _Vegeta thought, throwing the towel over his shoulder.

Goku looked up at Vegeta as he stood up to leave the room. "Uh Vegeta..."

Vegeta paused at the door, _Thirsty,_he thought and grabbed Goku's water bottle on the way out. He waved the bottle at him and said "Thanks," before the door closed behind him.

"He thanked me? Then this talk must have really helped him," Goku says aloud with an excited smile. "Wait till I tell Chichi!"

-  
A/N: Shout out to DaniHime86 who I quoted his review in the story! Thanks for the review!

ALSO, Check out Dragonforce! It has two of the fastest guitarists to ever live; plus Herman Li has crazy awesome long hair that makes me happy. The band is often called Speed Metal, or Triumph Metal and double plus, they call themselves Nintendo Metal (you can so hear Megaman explode in Through the Fire and the Flames about 3 minutes in.)! Lots of fun to listen to, watch the fingers fly on YouTube, and attempt to play on RockBand3!


	8. Surprising

**Chapter 8: Surprising**

Bulma was sitting at a coffee shop waiting for Vegeta to show up. She was sipping the largest coffee she could buy and reading the book in front of her.

"Hi" a voice said next to her. It was a young good-looking man in a suit.

"Hi," Bulma said letting the annoyance slip into her voice to give him a clue that she didn't want to be bothered.

"I have that exact same book" the voice said again.

"Oh?" Bulma said turning a page so her head faced more away from him.

"Yeah, the author really does a great job with the dialogue and how the things spoken and unspoken move the plot along," the voice was closer as he leaned closer to her over the armrest of the deep comfy chair.

Bulma looked up at the owner of the voice for a moment and said with some surprise, "Yeah, I agree. Wish more people thought like you," she gave him a small smile and returned to her book.

"Nice earrings. You live around here?"

"Uh, yeah not too far" she said tucking hair behind her ear.

"Do you like to have fun?" the voice said in a low voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Why don't you tell me what I mean," he said leaning closer.

"What?"

"You know, fun. How about we get out of here and go to your place for some fun?" he said, emphasizing fun while licking the corner of his mouth.

"Oh. No thanks," Bulma said realizing what he was referring to and turning determinedly back towards her book.

"What you wouldn't like a quickie? Just a little fun?"

"Sorry, I'm all quickie'd out" Bulma said bluntly.

The suited man sat back and drank from his coffee cup for a long minute, never taking his eyes off her. "Come on. What's wrong? I bet you're one of those uptight never been away from home girls. You could use a good quickie. You never had a proper man to loosen up your inhibitions. Or are you a lesbian?"

"That's it, I'm a lesbian" Bulma said back to his growing forceful angry words.

"Lesbian. Yeah right. You just hate men, because you could never get one and when one finally offers you some fun you change your sexual orientation because you have no idea how to suck a cock."

He was too close and pushing his whispers into her ears. Bulma was gripping the edges of her book, bending and crushing the pages. Should she get up and leave? Stand up to yell at him? But she just sat frozen, feeling his words crush her into her chair.

"Well I could get off on seeing you go down on some big-breasted-"

"Does this line of badgering a woman ever turn her rejection around?" Vegeta said, cutting off the suited man's words as he lifted him up by his collar and out of his adjacent chair.

Bulma could only stare as the two shouted back and forth. The manager was yelling now too, telling them both to take it outside. Vegeta was practically lifting the man out of the cafe by his collar. Bulma gathered her thoughts and then her bag and jumped up to head out the door. When she got to the doorway, she saw the suited man throw the remainder of his hot coffee in Vegeta's face. _Oh shit, _Bulma thought, waiting for fists to start flying. However, Vegeta just stood there, and wiped the hot brown liquid from his eyes. He walked towards her as she quietly offered him the tiny square napkin that came with her coffee.

"Are you okay?" Vegeta said as he soaked the napkin against his face. Before Bulma could answer, the voice stopped her.

"Cunt!" the business suit perv said as he turned to walk away. Before the suit took another step, Vegeta punched him across the face, leaving his crumpled form on the ground next to a patio chair.

"Uh, we better get out of here" Vegeta said taking Bulma's arm and turning her around in the opposite direction of the crumple of suit.

Since the coffee shop was a bust, Bulma suggested going to the library. She thought about going back to her house, but just didn't want to be alone with Vegeta. Despite what had just happened, she still felt weirdly erratic around him. Even the desperately quiet library was still a public place. So they found a forcibly quiet table in the back and spread books and papers across it.

Vegeta reached over Bulma's page and changed the answer.

"Vegeta, what are you doing? If you want to ace this thing then just stand back, ok?" Bulma reared back.

"How will I ace anything if it is wrong?"

"Excuse me? Do you know exactly who you are talking to?" Bulma nearly shrieked and her hands shout to her hips.

"Yeah I do! Someone whose girly little version of a two looks like a three and messes up the whole equation. See?" He pointed at the paper then proceeded to recalculate the answer from what he had apparently already done in his head. "There," he said finitely writing the answer at the bottom.

When he finished writing he stood back with his arms crossed and a condescending smirk on his face. Bulma was flabbergasted at the spectacle.

"How's that, Genius?" He threw out the word Genius as one side of his mouth drew up into a twisted smile.

Bulma's face was dripping with shock. The mistake was an honest one, despite his attitude towards how she liked to write her twos, but it was still wrong. _But he doesn't have to rub my face in it! _She thought angrily. But more than shocked or angry, Bulma was surprised.

"Vegeta, you're smart aren't you? You skip class and disrespect the teachers and everyone else and yet you still pass each year with seemingly no effort. I had wondered if you were just cheating," She continued even after that comment drew a growl from the annoyed man next to her, "But no. You are just hiding how smart you are. Why?"

His smirk was gone but his arms remained crossed, like a wall that separated them more than anything. "I don't have to justify myself to you, Woman" he said curtly. "Maybe you just aren't as much of a genius that you think you are."

Bulma ignored the jab and said, "No, I know I'm brilliant. And I've done this kind of math with Chichi and 18 and they are both ultra-nerds but still have to ask me questions in order to understand this complex of an equation. But you just…" her voice trailed off as she stepped closer to him, her head cocked to the side and her eyes squinting as she looked into his eyes; just like she had looked when they first met as children. The major difference was that her chest was poking out and touched his crossed arms. Vegeta would have looked down into her deep V-neck if he wasn't trapped staring back into her eyes. "Why sell yourself short? What are you trying to hide?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Woman. Just do the work and don't bother me." Vegeta said, leaning in to speak the last three words into her face before storming out of the room.

His choice of intimidation had the opposite effect on Bulma. As his face became nearer to her's all she could focus on where his sharp nose, strong chin and smooth skin. As he whipped around to leave, he could smell his aftershave and could only watch with heated cheeks as he walked away. Suddenly, she felt more interested than ever.


	9. Conscious Deliberate Mistakes

**Chapter 9: Conscious Deliberate Mistakes**

Yamcha watched as Bulma's ponytail bounced back and forth as she walked away from him down the hallway. It was always surprising to him how her body didn't seem to move much, but the ponytail swung with a violent glee from one side to the other. _Well she was moving today, she is practically skipping to Physics. I thought she hated physics, _Yamcha thought leaning against his locker.

"She certainly looks excited. You guys have some hot plans later?" Maren said. She appeared beside him holding her books carelessly and waited Bulma enter the classroom.

"No, she canceled. Said she had to work on this physics project" Yamcha said turning to find some random book to take to his next class.

"Oh? Man how much does she need to work on this project for? Can't she find some nerd to do it? And she never used to be this interested in school work before. Plus, I thought she hated working with Vegeta?"

"Yeah, she used to complain about him all the the time. Like non-stop. But now... I don't know," Yamcha said closing his locker.

"Well her loss! My folks just got a huge big screen TV! Surround sound the works! Wanna watch a movie tonight?" Maren said as she pressed her books to her chest.

Yamcha looked down at how her books pressed her breasts to form a perfect valley. Or more like a chasm. "Sure, but just as friends, right?"

"Of course just as friends!" she assures him with a smile that would put Mona Lisa to shame. "See you tonight around nine?" she said walking backwards before finally trotting off to another classroom.

The bell gave a blaring wail to signal that class was beginning as Yamcha shrugged his way to class.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Oh man, Chichi! Why did we ever go out for pizza?! This is amazing!" Goku said with tomato sauce and cheese clinging to his chin. "I mean you should start your own restaurant or something."

Chichi smiled at the messy eater, "Oh want what would I call my pizzeria?"

"Hmm. It would have to tell people how awesome it is right away. And be totally unique. I know! Chichi's!"

"Um, wouldn't they think I sold Mexican food? Like Chi-Chi's"

"But you'd sell pizzas..." Goku said confused.

"You're right. How foolish of me," Chichi said with a dreamy smile.

She picked a pepperoni off the pizza and ate it before Goku snagged the last piece. As he crammed it into his mouth he mumbled something.

"I'm sorry what was that?" Chichi said taking a sip of soda.

Another food mumbled noise.

"Goku, swallow then talk. ok? We've talk about this," Chichi said like she was scolding a child.

Goku's full cheeks somehow still formed a smile across the table at her. He swallowed the gigantic mouthful and continued to smile. "I love you for that,"

Chichi nearly choked on her soda. "What?" she coughed out.

"You know I never knew my parents. Master Roshi was a dad to me and taught me lots of stuff. Some things he probably shouldn't have, but he was still a father to me. But I never knew my mother. And some times, when you scold me, I think my mother would have sounded like that," Goku blushed deep red, "I guess that is kinda weird."

His face was nowhere near as red as Chichi's. "No it isn't weird. Wasn't it Fraud who said that humans seek out their parents in their relationships. Men seek out their mothers, and women, their fathers. I mean, you are like my dad in how laid back and fun loving you are, but you are also kinda over protective and deeply loyal to friends and family. And I love yo-" The burning of her cheeks cut off her words then and she held her hands to them to try and quell some of the heat.

"Chichi," Goku was suddenly sitting the chair next to her, faster than a flash. He was sitting so close his knee was shyly touching her knee. "I know we've been like dating a long time, but I want to um, you know, um-"

"Wait," Chichi stopped him and puppydog disappointment instantly set into his features, but Chichi was shaking her head to knock out the confusion. "What do you mean, 'dating a long time'?"

The hurt set deeper into Goku, "You mean you weren't serious back then?"

"Back when?"

"When we were kids. We both had that sparring match and you said it was our first date. I was kinda confused why it was a date, but I found out later from Oolong that if we went on a date that means we were dating..." Goku's voice trailed off.

The realization was coming over Chichi like a tidal wave. _All this time...He has been thinking we've been dating all this time?! _she thought. _I had no idea he really took that seriously. _"But Goku, we never called each other boyfriend and girlfriend. We've never held hands or even kis-um, done anything else couples do."

Goku had put his head down on the table, nestled in his arms, like a schoolboy with his head on his desk as punishment for being roundy in class. "You never did either, so I just guessed you didn't like it. But does this mean, since you never thought we were dating that you are already with someone else?" Goku's muffled voice said.

"Goku! I hang around you all the time. Who else would I possibly have cheated on you with?" Chichi was almost shouting at the accusation. She would never cheat on Goku!

Goku sat up suddenly, his hand behind his head as a broad cheerful smile stretched across his face. "So we were dating! Thank goodness, you really worried me there," he said as a bit of pink formed on his cheeks.

Chichi's face was full red again. _Dating!, _she thought trying to act casual, like it had been the obvious truth for almost a decade. "So what is it you wanted to ask me,... honey?" Throwing the pet name at the end made her face so hot she decided she needed some soda before she dehydrated herself.

Goku scratched a finger to his pink cheeks as he said. "Oh, yeah! I was hoping we could, um kiss." Chichi spit her drink all over the table and was now coughing and hacking desperately. "Of course if you want to wait a few more years before we do I completely understand!" Goku blurted out.

Once she recovered herself, Chichi smiled up into Goku's surprised face. His eyes were open wide and honest. Without a moment's hesitation, she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his in one exasperated movement.

-o-o-

A/N: Hello again! We'll get back to V and B next chapter is titled "The Bet" You know what that means! We are finally coming to the cusp of the story! Woot!

And I see you. I see the vast number of people that view each chapter but it is so so SO Few that leave comments in a review. It really does encourage me to write more when I see reviews you write. Hey, I even quoted one within the story a few chapters ago. You know who you are, DemiHime. Thanks so much for reading!


	10. The Bet

****-Not mine.

**Chapter 10: The Bet**

Bulma wiggled the knob on the old black stereo a few times until "Flagpole Sitta" crackled in through the fuzz of the radio. _Why would anyone listen to anything other than rock from the 90s? _she thought as she turned the volume way up. She bobbed her head to the music as she grabbed a screwdriver and headed over to the metal contraption on the work table.

While trying to slowly and gently turn the tiny screw on the green circuit board, the head snaps off. Bulma only stares at the pathetic screw for a moment before scooting her chair back from the table with a loud scrap and walking over to the toolbox. Dropping the tiny screwdriver and picking up another tool, she turns to face the circuit board.

"Big mistake, you little screw," she sweetly said as she brought the large wrench down on the circuit board over and over again. "Big F*CKING MISTAKE!" she screamed as she brought the wrench down again. The twisted green plastic flew by her face and the metal and wires bent and broke under her blows till it looked closer to roadkill or a trash heap then an invention. Bulma heaved and huffed still holding the wrench with both hands.

"Wow, glad I'm not on your bad side," a voice said from the doorway, "oh wait." He corrected himself with a self-satisfied smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest. He sauntered into the room and stood next to her to get a better look at the crushed device. "Did you get it?"

Not a bit amused, Bulma dropped the wrench with a clang and walked over to a stained towel and bottle of water. "What are you doing in here? This room is restricted. I don't even let my dad in here," she stated between long gulps of water. She wiped at the droplets of sweat along her hairline with the rag, leaving behind a smear of black grease, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah, that is why he sent me in," he said with a bold smirk as he leaned against the table next to the hunks of broken metal. "Want to talk about this bad boy?"

"With you? No way," Bulma scoffed finishing off the bottle of water.

"Then do you want to talk about Yamcha and that girl-what's her name,"

"NO!" Bulma shouted, "I don't want to talk about that cheating bastard or that sknaky slut Maren!" The empty plastic bottle she chucked at him would have hit him between the eyes if he hadn't dodged it in time.

_I guess that's better then the wrench,_ he thought glancing down at the broken pile on the table. _So that's an improvement. _His small victory was short lived when he heard a quiet weepy sniffle.

"Really, woman? Are you going to cry over that idiot?"

"What?! No! Not that. It's just..." Bulma trailed off.

"Hm?" Vegeta huffed raising an eyebrow at her.

"What did I do wrong? I thought I was perfect. Everything he wanted. What did I do wrong?" she said as frustrated tears escaped her eyes.

Vegeta quietly walked to stand beside her and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. She was shocked at his tenderness, the silent but strong and sweet gesture. Just when Bulma was about to lean into his arms and cry some more, he lifted his hand up and bopped her behind the head.

"Ow! What the hell, Vegeta?" Bulma said pushing the hair out of her face so she could glare at him more easily.

"What? That's what my father would do when I said something as stupid as that garbage you were just spewing," he said calmly in his defense as he crossed his arms over his chest again.

"Well that may borderline on child abuse," she said rubbing the back of her head. Admittedly, it didn't really hurt, but it did surprise her.

"Had to knock some sense into you. What did _you_ do wrong? That is the stupidest question I've ever heard a so-called genius utter. HE is the idiot that cheats on you with a disease riddled hoe and then breaks up with you on Facebook. Who does that?! Damned loser," as he continued to speak Vegeta's hands balled into fists at his sides.

Bulma looked at him rather surprised at how worked up he was getting. "Do you need to use the wrench?" she asked.

"Wrench?" he looked at her confused. Bulma pointed back at the table with a half smile. As he got it, Vegeta's face loosened and a deep echoing laugh filled every corner of the room.

Bulma's twinkling laugh joined his and they laughed for a while until she was rubbing her wet eyes. As the laughter slowed into chuckles she said, "It has been a long time since I heard you laugh. At least a laugh when you aren't trying to be a condescending ass."

"Oh, big talk coming from a closet grease monkey," he retorted. "So tell me," he turned to fully face her and looked directly into her eyes. As the final giggles left her, Bulma felt a little uncertain standing inside his serious gaze.

"Uh, tell you what?" she said her eyes darting anywhere but his.

"Why does the girl, that has claimed since age 4 to be a genius, in a basement hiding it from everyone?"

Her eyes locked on his. "I don't-" Her words were caught without an excuse when she saw his eyebrow already lifting with haughty derision. Heated anger boiled up from her chest as she shouted, "Don't judge me!" Bulma was livid as she poked a finger into Vegeta's chest. "I have my reasons as much as you do! You cover up how smart you are too. Skipping classes, picking fights and generally, in the nicest way I can put it, being a total and complete ass. That isn't the guy I knew as a kid, yeah you were always difficult but never so..." she struggled for the right word, "angry and mad." Her voice was quiet now with memories. She leaned closer to him and squinted as she peered into his eyes. "So what are you running from?"

The familiar inquisitive look was just as disarming as it was when he was a child, inside he felt the smiled at the nostalgic face before him. However, the feeling didn't last long.

"I don't run from anything." he said punctuating the words with a serious and biting tone. It didn't seem to effect Bulma though.

"So prove it," she said, puffing up her chest and pushing her hands into her hips.  
"Put up or shut up,"

"What are you talking about, woman?" Vegeta said,

"I've heard about Ouji Corp. and how things have been going downhill since your Uncle took over. Something about his insistence on chemical and medical testing to create super soldiers," she paused seeing Vegeta's shocked face, "my computer may or may not be hacked into some of their research data," she clarified with a broad smirk. "In any case, you could step in to take the company back. The Prodigal Son, as it were and restore the company to its former glory."

"Hm," Vegeta gave an skeptical grunt. "I've notice something as well," he said. "As a child, you boasted that you would be the youngest CEO in history when you became the head of Capsule Corp. And here, you try to flaunt your technological prowess to me, but only the confines of your private lab. Can your so-called inventions not stand up in the light of day?" Vegeta continued despite the anger that reddened Bulma's face then. "Yes, yes, nepotism may get you into the company, but no one will believe in a CEO that can't create inventions at the same level of her father. You'd have to make something more then that wrench smashed garbage in impress them." Vegeta stood back and watched the furious girl with satisfaction.

"You're on!" she shouted with finality. "I bet I can become CEO of Capsule Corp before you can of Ouji Corp! And I'll do it with the best invention you've ever seen!"

"A bet? What are we five?" Vegeta scoffed but then reconsidered with an evil grin, "You know any bet needs a prize. What do I get if I win?" He stalked in a circle around her, sniffing his prey for weaknesses.

"I don't know, Vegeta. How about the loser has to do whatever the winner wants" she flatly stated intimidated by his predatory circling. As she saw his smirk widen, she blushed deeply at what she had already revealed, "except that."

"Maybe I just want to you to prove a theory of mine," he said stopping in front of her.

"Oh? What is that?" she said trying to reclaim her composure.

"That you aren't wearing anything under those grease stained coveralls," he whispered as he leaned in closer to her.

A telling blush spread across her face, and Bulma coughed to try to push it away. "And if I win you have to come to prom with me."

A disgusted look passed over Vegeta as he stood back, "Seriously? I thought that girly side of you was all an act."

"It is my senior year and I am going to prom and having a wonderful time. And if-when I win, you will be my date. You will get a limo and flowers and and tux and be a perfect gentleman. Got it?" Bulma said as she stuck a determined hand in front of her.

Vegeta looked at her as he considered this. "Alright deal," he said as he wrapped his hand securely around her smaller one.

"Good, now get out. I have an invention to create that will kick your butt."

"We'll see little grease monkey. But let's be clear, the winner is already me," Vegeta said as he turned to leave the lab.

"You are amazingly self-assured. Has anyone ever tell you that?" Bulma said, watching him open the steal doors.

"I tell myself that every day, actually," he finished with his classic smirk as he shut the door behind him.

-o-o-o-

A/N: Hello again! Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, hope you will all give me more feedback now that the cusp of the story has just taken place. See you next time!


	11. Frenemies

Hey sorry it has been Super long! But I have an update! I'll get the next one up quicker. Please Read and Review with comments, i love those.

Note: duh, not mine.

-o^)

**Chapter 11: Frenemies**

Vegeta skillfully wrapped the black and white paisley fabric into a Double Windsor knot around his neck and tightened the tie into place. He gave each sleeve cuff of his black shirt a tug so that they peaked out from under the black suit jacket. Giving his reflection a final smirk, he left the room. He certainly looked the part of a harbinger of death. At least for his enemies he was. His father always wore black suits to important board meetings or whenever intimidation was necessary. And Vegeta wasn't about to break tradition.

As he walked to the chairman's office, he noticed that his suit seemed to have the opposite effect of intimidation on the females that worked there.

"Um, Can I help you?" a voice peaked out over a desk as he approached.

"I certainly hope so," he glanced down at the name plate on the desk, "Grace. Pretty name, Grace."

The freckles on the girls cheeks connected with the heat of her cheeks as she stumbled to say, "Thanks, it was my grandmother's name."

Vegeta leaned an arm on the desk as he spoke to the redheaded assistant, "Family name, hmm? I like that, comes from a tradition of dynasties and royalty. Someone came before but you are new improved version. Grace 2.0"

The girl giggled relentlessly, "Yeah at least I'm not Grace Junior" she said with a giggle, but stopped suddenly when the large door to her right opened and a broad blue suit stepped out.

"Ah, Vegeta Junior? Come in my boy, come in! My, does seeing you bring back memories," the blue suit said gesturing for him to enter. Vegeta glanced back at the assistant, whose blush spread from under her tightly laced collar and into her red head of hair. She now truly resembled a strawberry.

"Let's just say Vegeta and not the junior," he said with a tightly pulled smirk as he left the desk and entered the room. "Afterall, my father is dead and there won't be any confusion anymore."

"Yes, yes. Of course. We all felt the deep loss of your dear parents. The company has never been the same. But listen to me bothering you with business issues, lets talk about how you've been."

"Actually Brolli, I would like you to bother me with more business issues," Vegeta interrupted before continuing with a dangerous smirk. "I've been away for so long I'm just curious as to what became of my parents' hard work."

Brolli looked at the boy with surprise; no certainly he was not a boy anymore. He stood with shoulders slung back and hands casually in his pockets, and yet he still looked entirely ready to pounce as soon as an opportunity presented himself. "I've got to say, Vegeta, you must hear it a lot that you look so much like your father, but I think you take after your mother a great deal. She was fiery and ruthless with her wit. She could twist any negotiation into her favor and got exactly what she wanted gift wrapped with a bow on top."

The continued talk of his parents was making Vegeta impatient.

"But enough chatter of the past, we are talking about the future," Brolli said, easing into a deep brown leather chair. He gestured to the one across from him and Vegeta accepted. "What do you want to know about?"

"You were always loyal to my father, I remember how highly he spoke of you and your ability to understand and sway the board."

"Well that was long ago, the board sees me as an old relic now. An ancient legend that no one believes anymore. So I can't be of much help to you on the board."

Vegeta frowned deeply, seeing that a new plan would have to be formed. He began to stand to leave before the large older man placed a hand on his arm.

"But changes in leadership from the top down is more showy and less effective. I mean look at your uncle. Sure he took over as president, but the scientists and other companies we contract and work with still preferred your father and mother. Many have refused to work on certain projects with Frieza. Gathering a quiet collective of allies could be a better avenue to convincing the board." Brolli leaned back into her chair as he continued, "But of course, that is only if you wanted to do something like that."

Vegeta smirked back at the man, "Of course."

-o-o-o-o-o-

''Goku! Slow down! I don't think Chichi can give you mouth to mouth if you choke,'' Bulma teased out over the yard with a wink to Launch.

''Oh Bulma leave them be. You know she loves a man with a strong appetite,'' Launch joined in with a wink back. Chichi and Goku burned red at the idea, but he did slow down.

''Yeah Goku if you fill up on wings you won't get to try the breasts.'' Bunny chimed in oblivious to the girls teasing as she came out of the house with a mounded tray of assorted meats. Bulma and Launch burst laughing though.

After the fallout with Yamcha, Bulma had made some drastic changes to her birthday party. Her birthday was planned to be the biggest party of the year that anyone who was anyone in the school would be attending. She just canceled it. Of course, Bunny would have nothing of that and as the perfect host, invited a select few of Bulma's childhood friends to surprise her. Bulma figured that she would do something like this, but actually was surprised at the people that showed up to celebrate her 18th birthday. The gathering made her remember how easy and simple things used to be and she could only wonder when things changed so much that she rarely spoke to the old gang.

Goku disappears into the house, mumbling something about a bathroom. Chichi came over to the giggling pair and whacks both in the arm. ''Geez, Chich! When did you get so strong? But you have to admit that since you two know how the other feels, how awkward you both have become is way funnier than when you were oblivious''

"So who is up for some football?" Krilian called out holding a ball in hand.

"Hey it is Bulma's party we have to do stuff she would like." Said launch

"Actually Launch, I want to try out the bouncy house," Bulma said pointing at the inflated castle in the backyard.

"Seriously? Why is one of those here? What are you five?" Chichi said sarcastically.

"Nope in fact today I am 18, and as an adult I get to do whatever I want. And right now, that is bouncy house!" Bulma said grabbing both Chichi and Launch by the hand and running towards the air-filled castle.

After kicking off her shoes, Bulma bounded into the squishy castle and jumped like she was stomping down a cardboard box with both feet. Launch jumped and laid back so that the castle brought her back to her feet. Chichi resisted at first, but memories of pillow-fight filled sleepovers washed over her, and soon she was bouncing with the rest.

Krillian peered in through the mostly transparent walls of the castle at the well-endowed teenage girls jumping around. _Dear Penthouse_, he thought before kicking off his own shoes and ran towards the plastic castle.

As Bulma bounced around, she watched how the walls bent in under the weight and force of her bounces. The walls trembled and shook from the many bodies bouncing inside, but didn't fall down no matter how hard they bounced. She tilted her head to the side and thoughtfully peered out of squinted eyes as she thought about the air filled bladders holding the bouncy castle walls upright. Before her epiphany could be fully realized, she saw something. Through the undulating doorway. It was Goku coming towards her talking to someone dressed all in black.

The man in black was much shorter than Goku, but he walked with such effortless and powerful strides that Goku seemed to trip forward and so insignificant in comparison. While Goku chatted energetically to him, he glided forward, eyes fixed ahead of him. Ferocious and penetrating eyes that seemed transfixed on something.

"Now Bulma, don't be mad that he is here. It was Goku's idea to invite him and you two seem to be getting along better than you did when he first came back to school," Chichi said. Seeing that Bulma wasn't responding and stopped jumping and was staring at Vegeta as he walked towards them, "sorry" she said quietly thinking that she had ruined the evening all together.

"Right. Sounds good," she said in a quiet distant voice as she climbed down from the bouncy house and walked barefoot towards the pair. As she approached, Goku retreated to the castle with Chichi and they hid behind the inflated fortification. Vegeta waited for her to approach, standing casually but attentively with his hand in his pocket. _Damn! He looks like James Bond,_ she thought as she stopped in front of him.

Before a word could be spoken- "Oh dear, I am all out of Barbeque Sauce. Oh! Vegeta dear, can you go to the store and grab some more for me?" Bunny shouted from the patio.

Vegeta growled in acknowledgement before grabbing Bulma my the arm and dragging her behind him away from the yard and back to the driveway.

"Hey, I can't leave. It's my party!" Bulma protested, pulling on her abandoned flipflops at the patio doors as he pulled her forward.

"Most of those guys are idiots, but I'm sure everyone will remember why they are at your house without you there to remind them," he stated continuing to pull her towards the driveway.


	12. What If

**Chapter 12: What if...**

"So why did I have to come with you?" Bulma complained as she pushed the shopping cart down the aisle.

Vegeta walked with casual purposeful steps through the aisle slightly ahead of her. Like he was leading an expedition on some great and noble journey and not just to buy more nachos. She looked at him and tossed another bag of chips into the cart.

How does he making in a grocery store look like that? Like, not only does he own the place, but he is the reason it is allowed to exist and he is just gracing us with his presence. Bulma rolled her eyes and tossed another bag of chips into the cart.

"Since, I am doing all the shopping, why exactly are you here?"

"Obviously, because your mother asked me to get...whatever it was." He replied flatly as he leaned in to sniff a bag of lime flavored chips with suspetion.

"So, why did I have to come?" And edge of her temper rising in her voice.

"Obviously," he paused turning fully towards her, arm outreached till she was pinned back between his arm, his body and the shelves of chips. Heat was boiling under her cheeks as he leaned in even more, so close now she could smell his aftershave. He continued finally in a dark whisper, "because I don't shop." He plunked the jar of salsa into her hand as he stepped back with a smirk.

Bulma looked at the jar in her hands and burst out laughing, "Obviously!" It was flawless Vegetables logic. She laughed so hard, even Vegetables started to look uncomfortable, which only made her laugh harder. It felt so good to laugh like this. It had been a long time since she had laughed till her cheeks were sore and she was giddy and light headed.

"Has exposure to engine grease finally sent you over the edge?"

Her laughs ebbed to giggles as she wiped a misguided tear from her eye. For a moment, as she looked at him, she thought some of the hardness had slipped from the sides of his mouth, leaving a more genuine smile. "No," he huffed down a laugh, "No, just imagining you shopping,"

"Hmph. Hystarical," he replied less harshly then he intended.

A long moment passed before she asked, "So what's with the suit?"

"Just had some things to take care of, nothing to concern yourself with," Vegeta brushed her off and continued to walk slightly farther ahead.

"And here I was thinking you got all dolled up just for my party. My mistake," Bulma pushed the cart faster to get out in front of him. _It was his turn to stare at her ass_, she thought. When she was about to skirt around the aisle when she stopped suddenly and backed up into Vegeta.

"What are you doing?" he grumbled as the ass he had been watching pushed back into him. Before he could think to enjoy what had fallen into his lap, Bulma spun around.

"We've got to get out of here," she said in a loud urgent whisper.

"Why? What's going on?" Vegeta moved around her to peek around the aisle to where she had been heading before. Laughing loudly as they stumbled into a rack near the front of the store were Yamcha and Maren. Vegeta only hmphed in response. _Look drunk too_, he thought.

"Shit! This is the last thing I wanted to have happen on my birthday," Bulma pouted a little as she tried to think of a way to purchase their items and get out of there without being noticed. If they did see her and Vegeta there she could just... she was drawing a blank.

Vegeta watched as the options played out over her face before he went ahead with his decision. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the back of the store, leaving the cart behind.

"Wait! Where are we going? And what about the BBQ sauce?" Bulma objected as they continued farther into the back of the store. He stopped at a rotating rack of hats and plopped a huge brimmed sunhat on Bulma's head along with a pink scarf and a pair of sunglasses so big she looked like a grasshopper. She couldn't help but laugh. "This is your idea? Disguises? Vegeta, I look like I was sailing on a yacht not in a grocery store in eight o'clock at night! How is this covert?"

Vegeta carefully chose a pair of black sunglasses for himself. "One more thing," he said as he darted down a nearby aisle. In a moment he was back with a huge container of BBQ sauce and was handing it to her. He took off his jacket and slung it over his shoulder before bending his elbow in her direction. "Shall we?"

Bulma smiled all the way to her bones as she took his arm. She lifted her chin high so that she could barely see under the brim of the hat. They both walked at a graceful but rapid pace that put runway divas to sham. Vegeta lift a folded hundred dollar bill from his chest pocket and handed it to the cashier without stopping at the register on their way out the door, "Keep the change, my good sir".

Bulma nearly burst out laughing at his tittering fake British accent. She couldn't resist. As she passed the cashier, she bent her head to the side so only the corner of her eye was visible to give him a wink that made red flames shoot all the way behind his ears. Before they swiftly exited the store without looking back.

Bulma saw Yamcha's car parked a few spaces down from Vegeta's motorcycle. She unlocked her arm from his and put both hands around the BBQ sauce. Before Vegeta realized what she was doing, she had opened the container and was dumping black-brown sticky blobs onto the hood, windshield, headlights and even the rearview mirrors of his car. When the container was empty and swirled it over the goo to spread it out more before finally using it to write "ASS" into the window slime.

"Remind me not to piss you off," Vegeta said crossing his arms over his chest as Bulma tossed the empty container onto the roof of the car with a plop. She wiped what sauce had gotten onto her hands with the pink scarf as she walked towards him. "You know, your mother asked for that sauce and we can't go back to the party without it".

Bulma shrugged, "Guess we will have to do something else then," she said with a smile full of childlike glee as they walked quickly towards his motorcycle to escape the crime scene.

After a long ride she pointed him towards a tiki-style bar/coffee shop on the beach. It had Christmas light lanterns hanging around the outdoor setting area and gaudy straw and bamboo stapled along the lowers walls. Persistant in the luau theme even in the crisp early spring air. The radio was turned down low so that a baseball game on the TV could be heard clearly. Bulma sat down at the picnic table and kicked off her flipflops so she could dig her toes into the sand. The sun had long set during the ride and now it was just black sky over black waves cracking noisily on the sand in the distance. Vegeta joined her carrying two coffees.

"The Cub are playing. I've always liked the Cubbies" Bulma said taking a sip of her coffee.

"Seriously?" Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at her admission but held back when she glared at him over her cup. There was long wave crashing silence for a while. The colored lantern lights were keeping the closest of the stars from showing up, but if you waited and watched there were more and more peaking out every minute.

Vegeta leaned his elbows on the table behind him as they sat looking out over the sea. "I wonder what things would be like if we had never met before," she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what if we had never grown up next door to each other and then met sometime after without all the..." her voice drifted far away before returning quietly, "...all the drama. Like we could have met through mutual friends? or out somewhere? or at a tiki coffee shop?" Bulma said turning so she faced him more directly.

"I would see you rooting on the Cubs,"

"We'd argue," Bulma retorted.

"No, I'd simply compliment your commitment to such a hopeless case," he grinned pushing her coffee cup closer, "I'd buy you a drink, and say 'Hello, I"m Vegeta."

"I'd say, Hi Vegeta," she sipped from the coffee cup, "Thanks for the drink."

"Well, Bulma, other than your terrible taste in sports teams, Who are you?"

"Well, I'd say, "I'm Bulma Briefs. Grew up in West City. Currently, I am a student at Senior High School. In the fall I'll be attending West City College's science and engineering program, just like my Dad. Age 17. I love strawberries and bubble baths. And my number is 555-4829." Bulma concluded with a sip of coffee.

Vegeta picked up his cellphone, punched in some numbers and looked to the ceiling for a moment before Bulma heard her phone jiggle out the Dancing Queen song. She blushed at the embarrassing ringtone as Vegeta grinned a snicker at her. "Hello?"

"Hi Bulma, this is Vegeta. We met at that tiki coffee shop the other day?" Vegeta said coolly into the phone.

"Oh yeah, Hi. What's up?" Bulma said pushing back another blush.

"Guess what," he said picking up her sunglasses from the table, "you forgot your sunglasses"

"Oh! Well how do we fix that?" Bulma said.

"Same place at 5:30?"

"Okay, see you then," she clicked the phone closed, "What happens after that?"

"The inevitable I guess," Vegeta said leaning in closer. Bulma's heart skipped a moment as she realized what he was doing. She let her eyelids slide close as his face got closer and closer.  
When she didn't feel the impact of his mouth on hers, she peeked an eye open and saw that he had plopped her sunglasses on her face crooked.

"You really know how to kill a moment, Vegeta," Bulma said fixing the sunglasses and with a half bent frown and looked back out at the ocean. Of course with the glasses still on she couldn't see a thing. She pouted secretly into her coffee cup with a final determined sip. He just leaned back in against the picnic table again with a smirk before standing to look down at her.

"Come on," he said aiming a palm at her face.

"Where to?" Bulma said, reaching for the offered hand without really knowing what she was inviting next.

"Impatient?" he beamed down at her as she reached to take his hand, "You'll see."


	13. Playing Dirty

**Chapter 13: Playing Dirty **

Frieza sat swirling the clear contents of his glass as the voice on the phone continued with apologies. "And that was the only explanation they gave you?" Frieza said in a calm, sticky-sweet voice. "I see. Well, I am very disappointed. And there is one thing I truly hate and that is to be disappointed," Frieza threw the phone so hard it shattered against the fireplace molding. He took another sip of vodka.

That was yet another researcher group that was foregoing working on the soldier enhancement serum. Frieza had been sure that offering more money to those bookworms would ensure their help in the project, but even that was not enough. Capsule Corp was insisting that they would only be working with Vegeta for future projects. It seems that Vegeta has been working with Briefs, the old fool, in building a coalition against his research. Vegeta must know that he has the board of directors in his pocket, so he is making other allies to position himself for the presidency at Ouji Corp, and that was becoming more and more available as their clients and researchers didn't want to work with him.

Frieza heard the rumble of Vegeta's motorcycle outside and moved to the window, "Insolent little shit!" he cursed under his breath. As he peered threw the blinds he saw it wasn't just Vegeta on the bike. The Briefs girl. "Very entertaining," he said as he lifted the glass to his lips. "I also know how to create opportunities, my little prince,"

He walked back to his office and lifted the house phone to his ear, since the other lay in pieces. As the line ringed Frieza finished his drink and began to fill the next.

"Uh, hello?" the voice answered.

"Dedoria? Where is Zarbon?"

"Frieza? Hey, been a long time since we've heard from you! Hey Zarbon! Guess who is calling." Frieza could hear some unintelligible shouts in the background, "No, guess! You'll never guess,"

"Yes, yes. You are all very excitable, but can you please shut the hell up and put Zarbon on the phone you fat bastard!" Frieza amused voice grew to a deadly shout into the phone.

There was a muttering of apologies as the phone changed hands. "Hello sir, to what do we owe this great pleasure?" Zarbon beamed into the phone.

"A job, my dear Zarbon. A job," Frieza cooed in a gentle inviting voice, "Just like the old times."

-o-o-o-o-o-

"What are we doing here? I thought we couldn't go back to the party without the sauce," Bulma pouted thinking he was ending the evening early. It seems that the yard was quiet like that party had ended in their absence. They had taken longer on their shopping trip then they should have. Bulma felt a devious and proudly guilty smile grow across her face remembering what had become of the barbeque sauce.

"We aren't done," Vegeta said in a quiet rumble of a voice while flipping the kickstand into place with this toe, "I thought I'd show you-"

"Oh Bulma darling, we were all wondering where you have been," Dr. Briefs proclaimed from the porch. Vegeta swore under his breath. _At least it isn't the other woman,_ he thought, _the old man may let us get away_. Then in an instant Mrs Briefs was on the porch squealing too.

"Oh Honey! Everyone was starting to wonder what became of you two. But I knew you would be perfectly safe with such a strong man with you." Mrs. Breifs gave Vegeta a wink as she locked her arm around Bulma's and pulled her off the bike towards the house.

Bulma could only look back at Vegeta as she was pulled into the house. "Maybe we'll have to continue this some other time," she said begrudgingly as she handed him the helmet, "Looks like there is no escape now," she whispered.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't hold back your friend Goku back from the cake anymore. That boy just has such an appetite. But I managed to save you a piece,dear, so lets blow out the candle on that one," Bunny cooed the words sweetly while holding a piece of cake and scary movie sized chef's knife.

"Another time," Vegeta said to her back and she skipped into the house behind her mother. The girl was almost as bad at Goku when it came to sweets.

Vegeta walked the motorcycle towards his driveway. He was about to call it a night when Dr Briefs called out to him to come enjoy some cake too. He looked up at the dark windows of his childhood home as he decided. He put the helmet on the seat of the bike and walked back to the neighboring home. Inside the singing had already began inside.

Vegeta leaned against the kitchen wall as she blow out her candles, a distant smile on his face. The party quickly came to a close after Bunny showed up with a second cake covered in butter-cream icing and tiny candles. The party seemed like it wanted to persist into the night. So when Bulma pulled out the karaoke machine, Vegeta slipped out before screeched versions of Madonna started.

He walked the short distance to the house and closed the door to the echoing hallway. His uncle didn't seem to be home. Vegeta found it was dismaying to see that his uncle had redecorated the house so drastically. The house was once filled with warm wood details and floors and thick comforting fabrics and pillows. Frieza has redecorated the house in a more modern style. Vegeta thought the stark polished metal and predominate white looked cold and sterile. More like a space station lab than a home.

Vegeta retreated to his unchanged room with relieved sigh. He tossed his jacket on the chair by the desk and kicked off his shoes before stretching across the bed. He laid in the quiet staring at the ceiling until he couldn't hold the smile the bubbled up from deep in his chest. It had been a good day.

Vegeta let his eyes drift shut. He felt lite, like he was free. Like he was flying far above the ground. But he soon lands on soft pillowy grass.

"I bet I can get higher!" Bulma shouts from above. She looks so much different back then when there were young playing at the fort. Her stained bare-feet wrap around the rope swing. She paddles hard against the air until she reaches the height of the tethered arch. With one last push she lets go of the rope and steps into the air.

Vegeta sits up to catch her as she flies down to him, her smile wide and inviting. But in an instant, a icy hand shoots out from above and pulls her screaming into nothingness.

Vegeta woke with a start. He pulled a hand through his hair to calm himself. _Weird dream._ He could hear the sounds of straggling party goers getting into cars outside his window and see the headlights turn across his ceiling. Across the driveway, on the porch, Mrs Briefs waved and hugged everyone goodbye, leaving them to deal with the sugar high or tummy aches on their own. Then it was quiet again.

A familiar light beamed across his ceiling and he sat up and looked out the window. Bulma was in her room walking out of her bathroom with comfortable pajama pants and a tank top that accentuated her silhouette even through the thin curtains. The smile rumbled up from his chest again as he laid back and watched the ceiling till the light switched off again. _Night Bulma._

-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Yeah, sorry for the super extended delay in updates. The file was lost to my now dead computer and I got too frustrated to rewrite it all. But not I have embraced cloud computing and that shouldn't be a problem again. The only problem now, is that I need to decide which way I want to go next (several options, as the cliffhanger suggests). But I promise not to keep you in too much suspense this time.


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